What is the average cost of childbirth

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The best stock trading apps. Best robo advisors. Average stock market return. Car insurance. Life insurance. Best cheap car insurance. Best life insurance companies. Best homeowners insurance. The best renters insurance. Average cost of car insurance. Average cost of life insurance. Using allowed amounts, researchers determined the cost of childbirth, defined as the combination of all insurer and patient out-of-pocket spending.

Facility and professional claims associated with each inpatient admission were combined to determine total cost. Variations in both the cost of childbirth and benefit design accounted for the wide range of out-of-pocket expense totals. Data show the main driver of geographic spending variation was the difference in the cost of a vaginal birth. In contrast, births via C-section, a more intensive surgical procedure, are typically associated with longer, more expensive admissions.

The investigators found overall spending on C-section deliveries depend in part on the frequency with which the procedure occurs in each state. Although the procedure can be lifesaving for women and newborns when complications occur, such as bleeding, fetal distress, hypertensive disease, and infants in abnormal positions, C-sections are associated with complications in future births and are not without risk.

You can then compare hospitals to determine which one will help you significantly reduce medical costs. You can also save money by cutting back on unnecessary purchases. Overall, having a baby can be both a joyous and life-changing experience.

In addition, keep in mind that complications during birth can increase those costs. The reason for the increase, according to the study authors, is the rise in high deductibles—the lump sums that insurance companies make their customers pay before the companies will kick in any money. Indeed, more Americans have found themselves on plans with high deductibles in recent years as employers have sought to shift health-care costs onto employees.

In the new study, Moniz and her colleagues found that the percentage of women with deductibles rose from about 69 percent to about 87 percent in the seven-year time period.

Women paid a greater share—about 7 percent more—of their childbirth expenses as a result. In the U. David Anderson, a research associate with the Duke-Robert J.

Margolis Center for Health Policy who was not involved in the study, says while this study reinforces the effect of high deductibles on American patients, it has some drawbacks.