I'm going to assume the lion's share of costs in something as routine as a regular delivery of a baby (i.e. no complications) is probably going to be: Hospital expenses and doctor/surgery costs. IMO paying thousands of dollars to surgeons is definitely justified. I have several doctors in the extended fam, some of whom are surgeons. One of my cousins is studying to be one. Its just fucking crazy how much effort is required to be a doctor (not to mention all the costs assosciated with the education itself). So personally, I think the labor costs of surgery are justified.
The hospital charges make sense too as you're under supervision by trained nurses and living in a room built with specialized equipment.
I had an appendectomy recently. Everything included (surgery, hospital charges, drugs etc.) came to ~ $55k. Insurance paid most of it and I was ultimately charged around $5k. With that in mind $130k doesn't sound unreasonable for a delivery of a baby.
> $130k doesn't sound unreasonable for a delivery of a baby
While I'm accustomed to hearing this kind of thing from the USA, know that for citizens of any other developed country, that is an absolutely absurd amount, to the tune of 10x or 20x the proper cost.
I've recently had friends in both Japan and Australia, hardly countries with poor healthcare, give birth and in both cases the cost was around USD$5k. That's private, by the way - public would have been free (ie covered by the system paid for by the 2% medicare levy in the case of Australia).
I don't disagree the costs of heathcare are super inflated. My contention (and this is purely anecdotal, I don't have hard facts) is that healthcare workers in the US get compensated extremely well. I would like a comparison of doctor/surgeon compensation in different countries... I believe US healthcare professionals get compensated very well in comparison to those in other countries.
These numbers [1] are old but are probably still in the ballpark. US healthcare workers are compensated well, but not all that much more than comparable developed countries. And quality of healthcare in the US is top ten at best [2].
No, the prices are only explainable by profound inefficiency and corporate rent-seeking. The US is paying hugely inflated prices for (at best) similar outcomes to its peers - now that's market failure!
Needless to say I expect the US will adopt a single payer healthcare system within the next 10-20 years, like every single one of its peers, simply because the current system is unsustainable.
The hospital charges make sense too as you're under supervision by trained nurses and living in a room built with specialized equipment.
I had an appendectomy recently. Everything included (surgery, hospital charges, drugs etc.) came to ~ $55k. Insurance paid most of it and I was ultimately charged around $5k. With that in mind $130k doesn't sound unreasonable for a delivery of a baby.