Babies are expensive to produce

Mustafa and I are both strong proponents of health care reform in the United States. Although we quibble on many topics politically, we agree on this one, and it is one of the reasons both of us cast a vote for President Obama. With Maya’s birth, we knew that a (potentially brutal) lesson in the costs of health care was coming our way. We have good insurance through Mustafa’s job; we chose a PPO, which is slightly more expensive, but we both value the ability to choose our doctors. We chose a hospital and doctor covered by our insurance plan, and basically held our breath, hoping that all of the co-payments wouldn’t make us eat raman noodles for the next year.

Keep in mind, we’re talking a loooong labor, followed by a c-section. But that’s not so rare in the U.S.; induction is very common (and was heavily encouraged by our doctor), and once induced, the c-section rate goes up to 40%. So I don’t think our situation is, like, out-of-this-world unusual.

Here’s the total damage, as charged by the parties:  $76,582.50

(includes surgeon, anesthesiologist, hospital stay, pediatrics in hospital)

Here’s what we have to pay: $829

A good deal.  Thank god for insurance, and we’re not religious.

Note: I’m not including the prenatal care: about 15 doctor’s appointment, various blood tests, ultrasounds, and one month of biweekly hospital visits to be hooked up to a monitor, which I’d hazard to guess we paid about $750 altogether for. I’m too lazy to dig up all of the receipts to give a precise number.

Well, you read through my little rant, so here’s a cute picture of our little bird. Well worth the cost, even at sticker price!