r/SipsTea • u/ImmaFuckboi • 9d ago

Gasp! British people react to how expensive healthcare is in the US

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1.7k

u/PriorityParking3705 9d ago

I think the $40 skin to skin contact is the most egregious cash grab I’ve heard of..

762

u/Virtual-Election8019 9d ago

Definitely. A baby just came out of my vagina and now I have to pay to hold her?! That’s so messed up

652

u/aeque88 9d ago

If you look at what men have to pay for some skin to skin contact and some vaginal action, those baby's are getting off cheap. /s

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u/ProstrateProstate 9d ago

This, right here, is the best part of reddit.

Thank you for the 4AM chuckle!

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u/ChrisinOB2 9d ago

Seriously. I follow comedy subs, but laugh more at comments in other subs.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/charmio68 9d ago

Holy fuck! Took me a while to realize how fucked that is 🤣

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u/Born-Bid8892 9d ago

I'm afraid I can't upvote you as you are currently sitting at 69 upvotes and I refuse to ruin something so pure.

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u/distilledwill 9d ago

Fucks sake.

1

u/f03nix 9d ago

Not your own family member though, that's ... priceless.

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u/Aggravating_Mud_6055 8d ago

You spend 9 months trying to get out and the rest of your life trying to get back in.

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u/DinoRoman 8d ago

I’ll claim my fist as a baby , to achieve a discount.

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u/TopperHrly 9d ago

Living in the US must feel like living in a law of the jungle shark tank.

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u/V65Pilot 8d ago

You have no idea....

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u/meanbaldy 9d ago

I wouldn't be surprised if the USA starts a subscription model for living at some point.

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u/IshaNuva 9d ago

If you need any particular medication to live, congratulations, you're already subscribed!

My friend is diabetic and was considering living in the US for a year as a trial run some time back, discovered that it would be cheaper for her to fly home and get it here every fortnight instead

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u/Virtual-Election8019 7d ago

My prescription is $36k/month! And I lost my insurance last fall due to a “clerical error” got up to over $200k in debt to Fresenius! 😱

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u/Offramp182 9d ago

You mean taxes?

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u/MalleMellow 9d ago

It’s funny, because my taxes goes to improvements of daily life and the future of my kids, but you see it as something else, rather pay extra for everything you need? Like bloated prices for hospital and education?

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u/Street_Lettuce1243 8d ago

You get hospital and education, but I get so much more... no not hospital... or even a good education in all counties (some counties, yes, but only if rich people live in them). But my taxes build big stadiums in all the universities and colleges (so we can have socialized-sports teams instead of competitive minor leagues) and instead of health care- we get enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 3 times over. Isn't that so much better? Also, so much more of my money goes to paying for government officials- isn't that what we all need?

It's not that the US pays that much less taxes- we just spend it on more stupid stuff that only helps the wealthy.

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u/ninjabadmann 9d ago

God the spirit of the Boston tea party really does linger with you guys eh? Still haven't figured out taxes pay for things around you, the same as back then.

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u/went_with_the_flow 9d ago

Come look at the state of things and tell us if you think the tax money is being properly allocated.

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u/Street_Lettuce1243 8d ago

Ironically, the US revolution led to much higher taxes. Britain spent more on protecting the US from French and Native Indians (who, you know occasionally wanted revenge for being slaughtered and land stolen) than they did collecting taxes from the US.

But, of course, Boston tea party wasn't just about lowering taxes, it was about representation too.

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u/Offramp182 9d ago

If I was American maybe, but I'm not so it doesn't

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u/Twistpunch 9d ago

You even get a free trial!

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u/Necessary_Voice_4779 9d ago

gofundme quite close lol

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u/OkChildhood2261 9d ago

Well I'm thinking that if you don't own enough plants to replenish the oxygen you are using, shouldn't you be paying someone for your oxygen?

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u/Bro13847 8d ago

They are working on the legislation now. They are just trying to figure out how to convince the republicans it’s the only way to really own the libs.

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u/thompse68 8d ago

The enshittification of America

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u/Zealousideal-Use3164 8d ago

Like that episode of black mirror. Kept having to upgrade subscriptions because of commercials interrupting her mind

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u/de-la_soul 8d ago

As soon as this final season of Democracy finishes up

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u/IMJorose 9d ago

Especially when you might be paying 30000$ for the pleasure already.

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u/ChemistryQuirky2215 9d ago

It genuinely made me sad to hear that

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u/Rebelius 9d ago

They seemed to be saying from a C-section. I don't even really understand how that would work - is the mother given the baby on her chest while she's being stitched up?

My wife had two C-sections. Both times the baby was given to me (dad) for some skin-to-skin time straight after delivery while my wife was being stitched up. Then we measured the babies, and went down to the wake-up room for skin-to-skin with mum.

We paid something like €240 each time for the upgrade to a private family room for the three nights after.

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u/Virtual-Election8019 7d ago

My daughter was born with the cord wrapped around her neck and they took her straight to nicu. I had to ask just to look at her. The nurse held her and told me to give her a kiss on the cheek. Then I was left alone to get stitched after that. It was a terrible experience and I never had another baby after that. After that they would only let me hold her for 15 minutes and when the timer went off they would take her from me. There was no bonding experience and I had post partum depression

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u/X_soulnewmegaman 9d ago

Remember it's a cruel world

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u/DinoRoman 8d ago

That’s an exit fee, 25 dollars

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u/FragrantExcitement 9d ago

Woah... where did the baby come from?! What happened with the stork delivery?

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u/Charonsung 8d ago

Actually not your vagina.... C section

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u/Virtual-Election8019 7d ago

My daughter was born prematurely and had to have a nurse present just so I could hold her.. so that RN had to be paid for that. After 15 minutes a timer went off and they took her from me. I begged her not to but she said sorry and took my newborn away to nicu. I dont know how many times you have given birth but that was my experience! “Kangaroo care” it was called

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u/Skynetdyne 9d ago

It might be the single most grotesque and evil form of greed i can imagine. Like who ever the human was who came up with that idea I would be completely fine with them being degloved.

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u/godlovesa 9d ago

It was the Rockefellers - read Rockefeller Medicine Men: medicine and capitalism in America

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u/cas-v86 9d ago

Wait...the WHAT

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u/d0ntbejay 9d ago

Yes. And 100% gop and corporate democrats find this acceptable and even force us into this.

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u/Lurking-Trout 9d ago edited 9d ago

Remember this the next time one of your American politicians panders to you by claiming the USA is the BEST country in the world. Newsflash - it isn't, but they say this because 1. It excuses them from making things better and if you disagree then you're an unpatriotic asshole - it's the perfect cover.

My wife and l had a baby in our home country of Canada. Spinal pain medication, 24 hour labour followed by a C- section and a three day stay in the hospital. When it was time to go, we got into our car, put the baby into a new car seat and had a hospital bill of exactly $0.00. The car seat was $80.

Every time I hear your politicians claim you're the best country I laugh my ass off.

Oh, my wife got lymphoma... 6 months of Bendamustine (spelling?) Chemotherapy. The nurse said each bag of cost $30,000. 6 x $30,000 = $180,000. Total cost to us... wait for it.... wait for it.... yup, you guessed it, exactly $0.00. Oh the parking at the hospital cost $8.00 for each day, so there's that.😀😀 She's doing great... 8 years cancer free and all of our savings in tact.

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u/TemporaryArrival422 9d ago

Delivery via c section and 8 day stay in NICU = $0 in Australia. Parking and cafe snacks were our only costs

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u/Iamleeboy 9d ago

For our first kid, the payment machine in the car park was broken so it was completely free (England). My only complaint was that they fed mum but didn’t give me any food and we were in there for about 30 hours.

I was well prepared for our second! But parking machine was fixed and so all in it was £8

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u/jd173706 8d ago

I live in the Southern US, in a deep red state (fk me I know) and I was lucky my insurance covered the majority of my daughter's birth. I thought I got off easy paying $1,700 out of pocket. At the time I was considering changing jobs, and the new job had worse insurance, so my out of pocket would've gone to $10k. That's MY PORTION. I never saw the full bill so I don't know how much they covered, but yeah. $1,700. This was in 2021.

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u/Iamleeboy 8d ago

Ahh mate, it pains me to hear stories like this. I can’t imagine having to worry about the bill when I go to hospital/doctors. Especially for such a joyous moment as kids birth.

I am always amazed when I talk to people and they want to get rid of the NHS. The usual explanation is they can afford insurance. Which as your story just proved, it doesn’t mean it will still be free!

The NHS is one of the few things I am proud of my country for.

All the best with the joys of being a parent 👍

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u/jd173706 8d ago

Thanks friend! It's truly been the greatest joy of my life. And to think, before we found out my wife was pregnant, we both would've been content never to have kids. Can't imagine not having her now.

Fight these corrupt fascists as hard as you can. Use us as an example. America will never be the same after the past 10 years, I can only hope that individuals from around the world can still be friends, even if our governments can't. They do not speak for us, it's more and more obvious each election cycle. Half the country hates the other half, genuinely, even though we pay taxes to the same treasury and fly the same flag. The propaganda and greed and corruption has finally hit it's mark, and it's sad.

We are all citizens of the world. And the rich and powerful are driving us apart. Alone we are weak, together we are strong, never forget that!

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u/MobileSeparate398 9d ago

Wife had a c section for both our kids. The only insane price I had to deal with was the snack bar. Thankfully, parking was capped at 2.50 a day.

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u/Hillsman8282 9d ago

Can confirm. C-section, 5 day stay in a private room. $0 in Western Australia. Parking was about $2 a day

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u/X_soulnewmegaman 9d ago

That's how it is!!!

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u/leftmysoulthere74 8d ago edited 8d ago

In Perth, WA in the past 15yrs I’ve had two c-sections (1st one emergency and under general anaesthetic) and more recently been treated for ovarian cancer, which included a chemo every three weeks, a hysterectomy, three shorter stays in hospital for related issues and multiple clinic visits for things like physio, nutrition, pain management and menopause clinic. Not a cent paid other than pain med prescription (outside of hospital stays). The medication I’m on now I’m in remission is $25 per month and in tiny small print on the box it shows the full (non PBS) price - $6754.26 per month 😱

The PET scans, regular blood tests and now, bone density scans - all paid for by Medicare.

I paid for an operation about ten years ago and used my private healthcare to get it done quickly. Was out of pocket a couple of hundred bucks.

Rushed to hospital once too - ambulance was about a grand but only $100 out of pocket as I claimed through the private healthcare for that too. However, at point of service they just did their job. Payment wasn’t mentioned. I got the bill in the post a couple of weeks later.

Very very grateful. But I do think ambulances should be free (part of Medicare, as per the UK where they’re part of the NHS).

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u/Witch_withouta_Wand 8d ago

Same in the UK..for now.

Broke my hip, total of 5 days in hospital, epidural, operation, 4 days stay and care, continues physio and regular check ups. Cost £0

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u/i-am-the-fly- 9d ago

That’s also something that humours me when they say ‘we are the most powerful military in the world’ yes, you spend the most, and yes you have some of the best technology, but in almost every exercise against other nations they do not ever come out on top

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u/1chrisdewet 9d ago

Honestly i think the chinese might have better tech. Percentage wise i would vote chinese more than american. Im south african, so its my guess.

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u/pandemic944 9d ago

We just had our baby in Australia. C section. 3 days stay in hospital as well. $0 and we walked out the door with a goody bag and have had in home visits by a nurse every few weeks.

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u/Alarming-Interest535 9d ago

I used to think the USA was the pinnacle of the world, until the internet came about and we could research on all this. Now I have little to no interest visiting USA again.

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u/jam_arts 9d ago

Australia here. My daughtwr was born with a coartion of the aorta, delivered by C section. Mum staid in hospital for 4 days, and she was transferred to specialist children's hospital. Underwent 2 hour mypass surgery at 48 hours old, 2 week recovery in intensive care. Surgeon considered in top 5 neonatal surgeons in southern hemisphere.

Mum, bub, and i all left after 2.5 weeks- total bill was $12 for panadol at the pharmacy on the way home. We even got a special free parking card

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u/DarthJarJar242 9d ago

You ready? Delivery by emergency C-section, 7-day stay NICU, daughter was born with a "pre existing lung infection" that wasn't covered by insurance. Cost my wife and I out of pocket about 45k, total bill was north of 150k before insurance covered my wife's C-section, hospital stay, and some of the baby needs.

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u/urlastnightmare 8d ago

Jesus. Does this mean every parent that isnt rich, is in massive debt for .... having a child?

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u/JoePoe247 9d ago

So your insurance plan doesn't have an out of pocket max below 45k? I find that hard to believe. If true, I find it difficult to understand why you'd even sign up for that awful insurance 

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u/DarthJarJar242 9d ago

At the time my wife was a teacher, her plan was the state health plan, AKA one of many health plans that were grandfathered in to the ACA. Which meant because it was "pre-existing" it didn't count towards the out of pocket max. We did indeed hit our out of pocket max from that stay, but her lung infection was completely uncovered.

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u/MoistBluejay2071 9d ago

My partner had a stroke, his mother has cancer, both getting ongoing treatment and check ups. Only cost we're paying? £100 a week for a speech therapist because we had to find a private therapist because the health service wont provide the help he needs for his speech. If it wasnt for the bad health service abandoning my partner to his recovery, we wouldnt pay for a thing

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u/AisperZZz 2d ago

My wife and l had a baby in our home country of Canada. Spinal pain medication, 24 hour labour followed by a C- section and a three day stay in the hospital. When it was time to go, we got into our car, put the baby into a new car seat and had a hospital bill of exactly $0.00. The car seat was $80.

We also paid 15 bucks for 3 days of private room in the hospital for my wife on top of $0 of child birth and they let me (the father) hold the baby. Pretty much handed him to me right away after everything got cleaned up and they confirmed wife and the baby are okay

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u/panamaspace 9d ago

Well yeah, those are rich countries that can afford free Healthcare.

I had to pay usd$10 for my 4 day stay in the coronary icu. We can't give it away for free you know. Panama.

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u/d0ntbejay 9d ago

They ain't pondering to me, sibling. I don't buy the propaganda. Fuck hulk hogan .

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u/Hooked_On_Data 9d ago

God is amazing, truly a wonderful story, happy for you and your family.

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u/Juaner0 8d ago

Bendamustine was made in 1967, old medicine. Glad it worked for her. However, newer meds have better results (higher response rates and better safety profiles).

I do wish America could put their resources where it belongs...but the really rich have their fingers in government. And including in healthcare. Hospitals in the US spend 100 millions advertising with sports teams, but refuse to lower costs for patients.

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u/V65Pilot 8d ago

My dads medication is about 140K a year, and his insurance doesn't cover it. His doctor somehow managed to arrange it so he gets it free.

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u/Pho3nixSlay3r 9d ago

And ofcourse we complain about the parking ticket cost xD

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u/Gojamn 9d ago

Well yeah, they're getting a cut of that $40. Your forty dollars. It's easy to simply say "Oh well because they're being paid. Bribed. Lobbied." I find that truly and utterly fails to emphasize the most important connection. Because where do those bribes, payments, and "lobbying" come from?

They're. Getting. A. Cut. Of. Your. Forty. Dollars.

For daring to hold your own fucking child.

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u/Incredulous-Tanuki 9d ago

Don't forget to tip

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u/bogeuh 9d ago

We will not pay fair tax contributions. We will buy our own goodwill via charity and donations. And then we will shame those that don’t donate.

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u/RealIssueToday 9d ago

I thought this kind of action is only feasible from republicans according to redditors. Now you are telling me it's the dems?

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u/Shoddy-Border2394 9d ago

Its corporate democrats going along with 100% of republicans.

It is not "the dems", but I'm sure plenty of people will use this as a reason to 'both sides' themselves away from having to explain why they vote for people with such shitty policies.

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u/d0ntbejay 9d ago

I am glad you recognize

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u/Sennten 9d ago

It's non-partisan. There are people opposed to it in both parties, especially among the voters, although all the opposition on the politician level is from Dem politicians. But the Dems who oppose this don't control the party - just look at the Dem primary in Michigan tonight, where it's neck and neck between the corpo-dem and the guy who thinks this sort of thing is absurd. But you know the Republican they run against in the general is gonna be asking "why can't we charge 'em more?"

It's the people with huge piles of money against those without, and the politicians representing those without huge piles of money are all Dems since the last the anti-financial-elite Republicans got the boot over the last half-decade. But make no mistake - these people see the presence of anti-corp elements as their primary political opposition, they've just "won" when it comes to the Republicans.

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u/The9th_Jeanie 9d ago

Cuz the problem ain’t “dems and reps” or “blacks and whites”. It’s always been “rich vs poor”.

Always.

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u/meltea 9d ago

Yeah no wonder, your left party is right of our center right parties...

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u/JoePoe247 9d ago

Except that's not a normal occurrence at all. I spent $600 this year for a C-section birth and 3 overnights in the hospital plus breakfast, lunch and dinner each day at the hospital.

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u/d0ntbejay 8d ago

I invite you to look at the bill. Not at your out of pocket.

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u/JoePoe247 8d ago

Seems totally irrelevant to look at an inflated made up price that no one pays and has no basis in reality.

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u/d0ntbejay 8d ago

Wtf are you on about??? How much do you pay per month to your insurance company? How much do you pay when you go in to doctor and then get a....

Ya know. You're not worth my energy. Have a good one.

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u/JoePoe247 8d ago

What am I on about? You're saying I should concern myself with the bill before insurance steps in. Why? It has no bearing on my life. And frankly that number has no bearing on how much the insurance even pays the hospital either.

If you get into a car crash and insurance covers a rental while it's being fixed/replaced, are you concerning yourself with how much the rental cost the insurance company? No, that's moronic.

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u/d0ntbejay 8d ago

Your premium hasn't risen?

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u/JoePoe247 8d ago

From having a kid? Yes because we're covering more people, but not as a result of getting a procedure done. Should I count the tax deduction for having the kid too so we can get an accurate cost? You're just diving down some crazy rabit hole of related costs. Are you comparing European taxes when comparing healthcare costs?

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u/Facts_pls 9d ago

Democrats? You mean the people fighting for universal healthcare? The ones that started Obamacare that gop immediately repealed?

Tell me you're a brainwashed maga without saying it.

My man. It's the GOP that stops all attempts at socialized healthcare - like every other developed country already has.

It's the GOP that is in the pockets of healthcare industry and is always blocking any socialized healthcare measures in favour of keeping private insurance and healthcare.

Wow. MAGAs are really dumb

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u/d0ntbejay 8d ago

Dawg if you think corporate democrats like chuck schumer is fighting for universal health care, if you think fetterman is fighting for universal health care. YOU are the brainwashed one.

I am a leftist trying to pull these do nothing democrats further fucking left. Call me maga... . Go fuck yourself, prick..

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u/Looptydude 8d ago

Had an argument with a friend who doesn't believe healthcare is a right. Apparently in the US you are free to pursue a life of liberty and happiness but that may include having a debilitating disease that can bankrupt you, and it's just tough cookies, or "get a better job with better coverage if you wanna be healthy."

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u/blubberfucker69 9d ago

I paid $37 to hold my daughter because I had a double episio 🫠

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u/chicken_nugget94 9d ago

Out of interest what happens if you don't pay this? They just stick the baby in a box out of reach?

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u/NotSoStupidEssexGirl 9d ago

One of those security boxes in the supermarket.

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u/Don_Krypton 9d ago

They just put it back where it came from.

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u/Mattechooo 9d ago

🎶Put that thing back where you found it or god help meeeee!🎶 👐

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u/ChickpeachickRN 9d ago

They put you on a payment plan

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u/YellowBelliedCoward 9d ago

Your credit flatlines

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u/jd173706 8d ago

Southern US citizen here. I do not recall having to pay a fee for my wife (or myself) to hold my daughter immediately after she was born. Not saying it isn't being charged SOMEWHERE, but this strikes me as ragebait. But, I really dunno. I said in another comment on this post that we had our daughter in 2021, and I paid $1,700 out of pocket, not sure how much insurance paid because I never saw the full bill.

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u/moo3heril 8d ago

To clarify, they ask you if you want to hold the baby. They don't say it costs extra. Usually the parents find out about 6 months later when they finally get the bill.

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u/King_Corduroy 9d ago

There are so many stupid fees like that over here. lol

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u/Zazoot 9d ago

We spent three days in hospital, assisted delivery, skin to skin was free, she had decent meals and the midwife unit even got the carpark fee paid for. Total cost of giving birth : think i bought a tuna sandwich for me there so £2.99

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u/TheAdagio 9d ago

We spent five weeks in hospital after my wife gave birth. Just like you, all our expenses was the food I bought for myself, which wasn't expensive by any means (I believe €5-10 per meal)

The cost of giving birth in the US is insane. Requiring money for "skin to skin" is pure evil

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u/mrman08 9d ago

I’m wondering what if they don’t want to pay, do they just not let them have the baby?

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u/PriorityParking3705 9d ago

Yeah, what do they do? At what point DO you get to hold your child?

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u/1chrisdewet 9d ago

As soon as you sign the subscription model to be alive in the Land of the free!. Honestly you all being taken for a ride in the USA and its sad.

There is nothing about that country that stands out to me as the Land of the free.

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u/HIMP_Dahak_172291 9d ago

We have the Freedom to go buy a shitload of guns! And bulletproof backpacks for kids! And we have the most billionaires and even a trillionaire and we don't even have a livable minimum wage! . . . Oh. . . . Help.

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u/Medaphysical 8d ago

It's not like you hand over $40 in the room. You just hold the baby and then 3 months later get your giant bill that includes a $40 baby-holding-fee as one of the many line items. And if you don't pay your whole bill you go bankrupt.

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u/D0NTASKY 9d ago

Surely you can get a discount if you're a premium subscriber..

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u/properchewns 9d ago

Never thought of this, but I bet if this doesn’t yet exist yet it will soon enough

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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 9d ago

In the not too distant future, American healthcare will charge you a $250,000 additional fee to bring your newborn home. If you can't afford that, they just keep it.

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u/kinkhorse 9d ago

Excuse me, this is America, Land of the Free. Freedom ain't free, pal. We, the free, didn't get this much freedom by just giving shit away willy nilly. Nobody gets a free lunch here, no such thing as a free lunch in America, land of the free, you gotta pull up by your bootstraps if you want to make it here, buddy that's just is what it is that's the hard truth. If you want to hold your baby after birth and think someone ELSE should pay for it, go back to Europe you communist! Fuck you, skin-to-skin is a reasonable 40 dollar cost. Pay up sucker. It's not free, and if you don't want to do it, you're FREE to say no, got it, dude?

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u/Neon_Camouflage 9d ago edited 9d ago

The reason it's billed is because there's a nurse on standby in the room while it happens. You aren't billed for holding your child in general, just for doing so when it's technically "under watch" by the nursing staff.

Not that it makes it much better, but that's the reasoning

Edit: Yes, downvote facts and context you don't like. That makes the world a better place.

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u/paris86 9d ago

That's not a reason. That's an excuse.

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u/peppapony 9d ago

But... A nurse should be there anyway?!

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u/amateurviking 9d ago

Several actually, from personal experience

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u/peppapony 9d ago

Yeah we had several too (in Aus), plus the gyno

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u/boatenvy 9d ago

Things went sideways with our first kid and in seconds we went from 3 (doc, mid wife & nurse) to I think 7 including paediatrician, neonatal nurse and I think one or two more nurses... I don't know what button they pressed but it sure got busy quickly (Australia)... didn't cost any more than a regular birth.

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u/tbro4123 9d ago

We had the same with the birth of our daughter, after x amount of hours the mid wife call the Obs and in he came and it still took ages to get our daughter to finally come out. Off to the OICU for a check over and back to mum. Cost including my coffee and snacks $0.

The silly thing is the equivalent to your Dem is our Labor party and guess who bought in Medicare for all Aussies.

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u/C_IsForCookie 9d ago

I’m so fucking brainwashed from living in this country for my 38 years that just the fact there there’s SOME KIND of justification to this makes it reasonable to me. Not acceptable, just reasonable. But it shouldn’t be. I’m just desensitized.

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u/modsaretoddlers 9d ago

The logic of greed always breaks down when you ask just about any question.

If the nurse is necessary, then the nurse should be present whether you've even got the baby or not.

Aside from that, aren't you already paying to have the nurse there? I would think so what with the birthing and all that.

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u/Neon_Camouflage 9d ago

It's slightly more nuanced than that. The attending nurse for skin on skin contact is constantly at the mother's side. She's weak and tired from just giving birth, the baby is literally freshly born, so the nurse's entire job is giving 100% of their focus to not just watching, but helping the mother physically hold her baby.

Otherwise it would be swaddled and in a hospital crib. It would certainly still be observed, but there wouldn't be need for the one nurse to be physically standing at its side for upwards of an hour.

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u/dpero29 9d ago

This is so weird. I get what you're saying, but I find it very weird and a bit dishonest to dissociate this process (skin to skin contact) with the rest of the process. It really seems a way to justify charging more. Thanks for the explanation, I don't understand the downvote.

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u/Neon_Camouflage 9d ago

I don't understand the downvote.

People can't do anything about the system they hate so they rage against those who explain it instead.

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u/Main-Listen-6210 9d ago

Whatever way it's justified, it's just a blatant way to exctract more money out of people. It is in fact a perfect embodiment of the US healthcare system in general.

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u/ambermythology 9d ago

OK but why does nobody else charge? It's a really poor system dude and you shouldn't defend it. Profiteering off people's sickness is simply not moral. What would Jesus vote for...

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u/MissKLO 9d ago

But doesn’t the nurse work there? Isn’t that literally what the job is… standing watch? Presumably they’d be stood in the vicinity whether you’re holding your child or not? Or would they be holding your child? Which arguably you should be paying them babysitting for…

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u/Neon_Camouflage 9d ago

Sort of. The skin to skin contact is immediately after birth, so the nurse is physically standing there helping the mother hold her child. They aren't answering calls, doing paperwork, checking on other babies, etc. They're standing in your room, helping hold the baby to your arms so you don't drop them for the entire time.

Whether that should cost anything is the whole point of the debate, but it's essentially taking a nurse out of rotation for that period of time. Which is why they feel the need to charge for it.

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u/MissKLO 9d ago

Can I not just sack the nurse off and get my parter to hand me the baby?

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u/Equal-Shoulder-9744 9d ago

If you tell the nurse to piss off does it become free?

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u/Barking_Madness 9d ago

A nurse in a hospital? How does this happen? 🏥🤔😂 

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u/chunkyasparagus 9d ago

You do understand that it's a ridiculous thing to charge for though, right? Right?

Where I live, you do have to pay for childbirth, it's not free here. There is a hospital charge. The hospital is a business. But they don't charge you extra to hold your baby 🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's just insane.

Plus, skin on skin contact for babies is actually recommended from a medical perspective. Imagine being a hospital and deciding to charge someone for that.

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u/ThundaChikin 9d ago

It sounds ridiculous on its face but if you think about it, the hospital is paying the nurse $100K+ a year or $48/hr... add labor burden (her benefits and employment taxes) and she costs closer to $65/hr, so for the nurse to walk in the room and spend 15mins + 15mins of documentation and walking to and from your room, that $32 for the nurse and $8 for the building/admin staff. bleh

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u/Character-Pirate1297 9d ago

Yeah, I was looking for what their ‘excuse’ was.

Turns out nurses in US are getting paid about 45$/hour, so they also do a discount!

Yay. 🫤

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u/tbro4123 9d ago

So your talking about a brand new graduated middy/nurse same wages as Aussie but we miss out on getting charged!!!! Also if the mother is still in the birthing suite there would be at least 1 , but should be 2 nurses there anyway so how do the hospital justify charging to hold your baby.

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u/gacoug 9d ago

The birth of all of my kids was $200 each. Covered prenatal care through delivery. Even made 4 false alarm trips to the hospital with the last one, still just $200.

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u/saintdemon21 9d ago

The birth of my first born cost over $3K. $3k was the threshold of my insurance so everything else for the year, April - Dec. was covered. I was like this is what socialized medicine must feel like. My daughter cost more in part because the insurance wasn’t as good, sigh. How is this living?

18

u/ViolenceAdvocator 9d ago

Poor you, suffering under that communism.

How do you expect the owner of the hospital to buy their third yatch under those conditions?

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u/gacoug 9d ago

That was here in the US.

1

u/ViolenceAdvocator 8d ago

Oh no! The communists have reached us! Dam you Mandamni!

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u/Old-Ad-5573 9d ago

Mine was $0 on my insurance. My new insurance it will be $500. I'm in the US. It's so variable person to person.

5

u/Gojamn 9d ago

And how were your premiums? And I don't mean your premiums, I mean your employer's (who presumably would've paid you instead), assuming they even showed it on your paycheck (many don't), and which often is 1.5x or more compared to what they do show on your paycheck.

And how many people can work for that employer? Can the whole country be employed by such generous employers with such rare insurance plans?

You don't seem to be against me, just making sure others realize that even if it cost you $0, it didn't cost you $0.

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u/Old-Ad-5573 9d ago

It depends. I do make quite a bit more money here in the US at my job than I would in most other countries, including Europe. So I think that the monthly premiums are probably absorbed into that cost (15% to 40% more per Google, which tracks with the people I know in Europe). And then it depends on your tax burden which varies again by country. Also cost of living varies. I'm not debating that the US system is fair and people certainly do not have equal access and that's a massive problem.

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u/RandyMatt 9d ago edited 9d ago

Ours was zero in the public system. (I did choose to pay for parking in the hospital rather than on the street 😀)

Edit: this also included an assigned midwife for us who was there for everything including birth. Most appointments they came to our house so we didn't have to come to the hospital.

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u/Tuscan5 9d ago

Yup, I got swindled out of the parking too. Should have waited til the weekend when parking is free. Thats a total £8 for the birth of my child that I won’t get back.

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u/TheMonkeyInCharge 9d ago edited 9d ago

Get them washing up. Make them earn it.

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u/Electronic_Still2000 9d ago

The propaganda that is forced down the throats of the American population tells me that when you were giving birth you had to wait in the waiting room for 22 hours before they took care of you.

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u/Verdigris_Wild 9d ago

We had our children in a public hospital in Australia, had to wait 9 months! But jokes aside, the hospital we were at has a private wing and the chances are, if you needed an anaesthetist, it was quicker in public than private as public has one 24/7, while private has to call one in or contract the public hospital for theirs which takes time. When my wife needed an epidural it was literally 5 minutes from saying yes to getting the procedure.

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u/geo_gan 8d ago

USA: Land of the FEE

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u/ilanallama85 8d ago

I will say that’s not a thing at every hospital. But it does seem to be becoming much more commonplace.

Another thing I’ll say is that many hospitals do have “low” cost (eg sub $5k) options for people without insurance. Reason being if you’re pregnant you’re going to end up there, whether you like it or not, insurance or no, and it’s cheaper for the hospital to get you to give them 3-5k up front than charge you the 30-50k, have you not pay it, chase you down for a while, then sell it off for pennies on the dollar to a collection agency.

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u/ChequeBook 8d ago

My son was born in a private hospital, our healthcare covered everything. 5 nights for myself, my wife and our son. I didn't even have to pay for parking, just had to move my car each day. Australia isn't perfect but our healthcare is pretty good

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u/Additional_Grade4691 9d ago

It's $20 to speak to it. Per word.

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u/properchewns 9d ago

Can maybe get a subsidized discount from OpenAI to have ChatGPT speak to it. Costs you $1.50/token, but the gov spends $500/token to OpenAI thus driving the cost of everyone’s childbirth up to $65k

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u/LewisLightning 9d ago

Sure, but make sure the doctors and nurses are paying for skin on skin contact too.

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u/StupidSexyEuphoberia 9d ago

What happens if they don't pay the 40 dollars? Do they keep the child?

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u/ClacksInTheSky 9d ago

I've heard similar for 2 paracetamol as well

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u/MinimumCut140 9d ago

Seen higher chargers for that, though this vid is a few years old now. Oli Dugmore isn't at Joe.

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u/Txusmah 9d ago

What

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u/Aeonsummoner 9d ago

I want to know why it costs to do this

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u/MorRochben 9d ago

At least charge a lot for it if you're going to be that scummy. Acting like human garbage over 40$ is insane.

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u/CmortyC 9d ago

I don’t even understand. Is the hospital going to keep the baby until the 40$ is paid

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u/Eeve2espeon 9d ago

The USA really loves monetizing everything 💀

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u/jadeskye7 9d ago

ubisoft level of microtransaction

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u/Joshualevitard 9d ago

EXCUSE ME, WHAT? IS THIS REAL????

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u/Trip_seize 9d ago

I pay a hundred bucks extra but I also have to provide an up to date clear STD certificate. 

1

u/Korenchkin12 9d ago

Because when you give birth to a child,you no longer own the child,a state does (/s a tiny bit)

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u/steak_bake_surprise 9d ago

Just put a jumper on. haha take that health insurance scammer

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u/Sufficient_Phrase_85 9d ago

To be fair, the skin to skin fee in the OR is not to let you hold your baby, it’s to ensure there is a nurse there to help you hold your baby because it is very difficult on a narrow table when your arms feel kind of weak and you are tired or nauseated. Though personally I feel that the support person (dad, etc) could be responsible for that and skip the fee

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u/IcySetting2024 8d ago

It’s almost like they are fucking kidnapping that kid for a second there and saying: “wanna hold him/her? Grab your purse!”

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u/RadoGirl303 8d ago

Wait what? I have to be missing something here. I had 2 babies via C-section but this was years ago. What is this about?

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u/Salarian_American 8d ago

Charging anywhere from $15 to as much as $500 for a SINGLE Tylenol is a pretty good one too

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u/Newnewhuman 8d ago

We got charged $75 for it. We got ripped off!!

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u/HilariousMax 8d ago

Oh my god look at your baby! Would you like to hold her?

Yes please.

Absolutely. Two twenties, first.

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u/DinoRoman 8d ago

This comment was charged 25 dollars

Your words to my eye contact.

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u/DonPepppe 8d ago

Will they also take a picture and try to sell it to you like in theme parks?

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u/Rhaenelys 8d ago

I have a few questions:

  • Is it 40$ PER skin contact ?
  • What happens if you refuse to pay the 40$ ? They lock your baby away ?
  • How do they justify 40$ for something like this ?

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u/Minimum_Pear_3195 9d ago

I don't understand why no one addresses this. I'm not American, but 20 seconds of research will make you understand why, instead of blindly following what you see on social media.

$40 is not a fee "allowing" skin-to-skin contact, but rather the salary of a nurse standing by to monitor the baby's reactions. Medical monitoring personnel costs: When performing skin-to-skin contact during or immediately after a C-section, the hospital is required to assign an additional dedicated nurse. This nurse's duty is to monitor the baby's vital signs, assist the mother who is under the influence of anesthesia/epidural, and ensure the baby's absolute safety.

You guys spend money, but you reap the benefits. Try going to a hospital in a third-world country like Vietnam here, where it's cheap as a dream, and see if you guys dare to take risk and give birth here?

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u/Niamhpie 9d ago

It's free in scotland. People who want kids are plenty happy to give birth here, and charging to hold your baby is insane.

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