the Price of Hospital Stays

In November 2007, I was admitted to the hospital for complications with my pregnancy. The services included three days and nights observation (two of which being fetal monitoring as well), an induction of delivery, and the delivery of a healthy baby. The single most expensive at just over $4,000 was, of course, the delivery (non Cesarean) of my child. The two days and nights in labor (for the room) cost just over $1,700, and recovery was about $1,800. The final $800 was divided among things such as over-priced lanolin (14.00 for a .25oz sample size), motrin (a whopping 22.00 each), bags of pitocin and saline, and some other drugs I had no idea ever went into my IV.

The hospital staff was great. The L&D (labor and delivery) nurses were amazingly helpful, really great at alleviating the anxiety that comes with complications in pregnancy and dealing with the mortality of your unborn child. One of the L&D nurses actually nearly completely delivered my baby because the doctor didn't respond the first eighty times she called him. The recovery nurses were just as great. They came in when you needed them, and didn't make you feel like an idiot for not knowing exactly how to handle your brand new little person. Great for a nervous first time parent. The doctors were not as stellar as the nurses (except for one who really was awesome), and were very rarely seen. The one that delivered my child had terrible bedside manner, but was competent. The facilities were old and you had to share a bathroom in L&D ... not fun when you are going through that kind of pain. The hospital food was, as most hospital food is, pretty terrible (even after not eating for two days), but you had a menu and were able to choose whatever you wanted. You always think that you will get more for the outrageous cost of healthcare, but the staff generally helps soften the $10,000 blow.

Get some great health insurance and be sure to order your food out. Make sure you check your bill twice before you leave the hospital and ask what certain drugs are and when you were given them. I was almost charged an extra $200 for a narcotic that I declined. You can't really negotiate the price of a band-aid, but you can make sure they actually used that band-aid on you.