A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.
A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.
NICUs are capital and professional labor intensive. I got to meet the team of doctors and nurses who kept my son alive and thriving for the three months between birth and due date. Idk what the magic number to care for him should have been, but I don’t think six figures is an unfair estimate in any socio-economic system.
The question after that is “Who paid for it?” And, in my case, it was Medicaid, which was a huge relief. These poor bastards clearly didn’t have the option.
Why it’s so capital intensive is another issue, but the matter of six figures being reasonable is to compare that to costs of similar treatments in other countries (usually it’s an order of magnitude more expensive).
Healthcare just can’t be free market bcs the demand side cannot be free by definition.
A big part of that is that other countries view to medical staff as a fixed cost. They’re not reflected in the “bill”, much like how you don’t get billed by the fire department. They’re simply paid to be there, and costs for treatment are more reflective of the cost of the treatment.
Was likely 2 hours a day actual attended care, 1000 a day, 90k for 3 months, plus rent, food, materials, another 500 a day. That’s $135-155k even with conservative care in nicu. In a real nicu that would be 10x
My nephew was also in the nicu for three months, and he cost a million dollars. Also picked up by Medicaid. As much as I hate the US Healthcare system, I will be forever grateful to the united states of America for providing life to my nephew when in any other time or situation he would have just died immediately. He is and continues to be a miracle, a very special, bright boy who just scored a goal for his soccer team this weekend for the first time.