Makes me wonder what the $48K (in 1987) it cost for myself and my youngest son would be if it were now. I was in for 17 days (c section and then 10 days later an abdominal surgery to find and repair a spot in my intestine that got clipped during the C-section). My son was in for 21 days total. At 7 days of age he developed spinal meningitis and had a staph hominis in his spinal column. Between he and I, if we'd have gone home on time one or the other of us would have ended up dead. I would have thought I was just feeling bad from the c-section and that he just had a bit of a fever.

You're defending a system that charges someone 160k to have a baby? Stupid fucks like you are the reason this shit happens to begin with.

What happens if you decide you don't want to pay?

I realize you picked one of the best hospitals, but many health insurance plans I would have thought would cover all costs. At my job we just switched HMO's after 20 years...my boss said that they raised the fees $100 more a month per employee, so we are switching. Funny how healthcare is going up due to Obama's BS. :(

I doubt that alot, our daughter was born 6 weeks early and she had to spend 2 weeks in SCBU ( Special Care Baby Unit ) as she had trouble breathing on her own.

We only lived 3 minutes away from the hospital but they gave us a room ( like a self contained flat ) so we could stay over at the hospital when ever we wanted. They always had 1 nurse per baby 24 hours a day watching over her and the machines she was hooked up to.

Now she is 14 months old and full of energy

Total cost = £20 box of chocolates ( they aren't allowed flowers because its a sterlie ward)

Ohh by the way man congrats

Congrats on the baby, you can never really put a price on that :)


As mentioned, you can definitely get that price knocked down...
I have 5 kids and I don't think mine cost that much combined...whew, I would have had a heart attack...

she is cute.

So, what you are saying, lumenos, is that you are fucking rich. I love that. Congratulations.

Congrats! We are 9 days away from one too.

Very exciting

I am currently uninsured.

I tried to apply for a $650 a month policy, but was denied for a variety of reasons, including that I had a pre-existing condition (I have a non-lethal skin condition - Psoriasis, which was fully covered when I was working for a large corporation).

Since I am self-employed (and made over $300,000 last year), I am apparently not worthy of insurance, even though I am totally willing to pay in a year, more than I have ever received in treatment in my entire life.

Another reason I was denied was because I visited a hospital within the last year to ensure that a minor puncture wound to my hand was not infected.

They cleaned my wound in 30 minutes (most of that time spent filling out paperwork and waiting for attention), and declared it not infected, but even though I have never spent a night in a hospital for anything in my life, they declared that they could not insure me, simply due to going in once to ensure that I did not have a hand infection, which I did not.

BS like this has to change... :mad:

As I understand it, a socialized medical system ensures to some extent that costs are contained and everyone is covered (not necessarily for free), rather than arbitrarily being denied coverage (even if you are able/willing to pay for it).

ADG

ADG

Wow that's crazy....totally crazy....in Israel it costs $0 to have a baby no matter what. fucking nuts.

congrats on the baby though :)

in Canada, you pay via taxes and some small heathcare fees (very small). but whatever you need, you get. i can go to the hospital right now, and not shell out anything. in fact, i was just there today because of a problem with my foot. no issues at all.

I'm just going to say congrats and leave it at that:thumbsup

would have thought nicu would have been covered under your health insurance.... not maternity

i didn't say it didn't have anything to do with health care, i said it has more to do with the level of health of a nation.

from the link you provided-

IMR is also a useful indicator of a country's level of health or development, and is a component of the physical quality of life index.

more from wiki, since you are referencing them-

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country.

it was a tongue-in-cheek comment.



again, i didn't say it is SUPERIOR, i said it is the best and that is true. i will explain. there are, what, ~200 countries? the quality of care provided in the u.s. is comparable to 5 or so other countries, that makes the quality of care provided in the top 2%, certainly you can admit being in the top 2 percentile is the best.



please reread the comment, i said that "while the system is fucked, the level of care provided is the best." my saying the system is fucked is not defending the system, certainly someone so quick to call others stupid fucks can see that.

160k - LOL WTF!

160k to do what we were put here to do naturally. Incredible. Greed at its finest.

Congrats on your new born.

congrats with that! Thanks!

Thanks Les, I enjoy your posts LOL

Cool Rob, best of luck!!! Boy or girl?

congrats

Congratulations!

Note: Dyna Mo is a fucking moron.

i not concerned in the slightest with what *young* thinks about *dyna mo* at a message board called go fuck yourself.

if i were, i'd list my businesses, resume, education level, home and condo, vehicles in my sig.

you name calling reveals more about you than me.

Congratulations but why Cedars?????

they take back the child

Exactly same thoughts here.

Congratulations, and enjoy every little moment you can. :)
:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

160k?


what a fucking joke!

Congrats - she's beautiful.

It brings me back a few years. Thankfully, we weren't under insured when our twins spent two weeks in the NICU three years ago. Good luck getting the bill reduced.

More importantly enjoy the time with your new daughter.

Congratulations on the baby.

As for the money, common sense dictates the costs can't possibly justify the pricetag, even if the doctor made several million a year in salary and the surgical instruments were made of platinum. It's logical to think that you're being billed for the quality of care and if you weren't paying this amount your baby would've been treated badly but the fact is, what you are being billed for is the litigation costs of all the lawsuits since birth liability is the biggest source of lawsuit damages.

Congrats on on the new born, your lives have changed for ever and you are gonna love every minute of her (well until they become teenagers anyway:winkwink:)

I can relate to the feeling. My daughter was in the NICU for 3 days after she was born. You must have been scared.

I can't relate to the horrible bill tough. In Canada we pay our healthcare in the form of taxes.

The $160,000 bill was the insurance bill. They want to see if you've got someone covering you who'll pay it.

I have heard of uninsured people protesting it and getting a rediculous amount of money knocked off the bill. In other words, being given the real bill.

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/nov...h/he-premies21
:2 cents::2 cents::2 cents:

You must have connections, have some company or start your own...and put you down as an employee. Then you should be able to get on an HMO. The system is fucked up so you need to learn the system.

I learned the hard way too, my wife who at the time was my girl friend had an operation up in Greenwich, CT expensive hospital....no health insurance....cost $30,000 make a long story short...here mom filed some papers in Japan since she is a citizen of Japan and they covered almost half...I covered the other half. My boss told me next time we can put her on the company plan and I just pay the fees...this way she would not have had to pay anything....maybe a co-pay. Now she is an RN at Columbia Prespertarian so she has great health insurance...I am also going on her plan as a back up.

Congrats :thumbsup

Yeah, whatever. Is she busty? :1orglaugh

RE: http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=942682

Absolutely awesome, both the new addition to your family and your attitude! Congrats! :)

I'm curious...

What is it you think would've happened in a "socialized medicine" setting?

Also, you seem to be well off enough that the 160k bill is manageable. What do you think happens to people with normal salaries in this situation?

Negotiate directly with the hospital, explain that you are paying cash thus you want a cash price. The routinely overcharge insurance companies, it is part of the game. Then when you get it negotiated down to a cash price ( I would target 30% of bill) then ask to set up a pay plan.

They may harass you early, but they should come around. if you are uncomfortable negotiating, there are people you can hire as consultants who can help.

Congratulations on baby, glad everyone is doing well.

excellent article, thanks for posting the link.

a point to note from that-

premature babies are a contributing portion of the overall infant mortality rate whilst perinatal, neonatal, and postneonatal quality of care PROVIDED are not significant contributing factors to infant mortality.

i.e. imr is an indicator of the overall health of a country, not the care provided.

Congrats on the baby :)

You three are a cute family