A new mom was baffled when she received her hospital bill two weeks after she gave birth to her daughter. Despite having a C-section, she discovered that she was also charged for a vaginal delivery.
Content creator Tarah nicole welcomed her first daughter, Violet, two weeks ago. She had little time for newborn snuggles before she was hit with an outrageous hospital bill containing an especially illogical detail.
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“After being subjected to many, many procedures that were completely obviously cash grabs at the hospital, I got charged today for both a vaginal and a C-section,” Nicole claimed in A Teltok Video. “I thought I only had a C-section, but obviously they put her back in me so I could deliver her both ways!”
The new mom added in the comments that she was also charged $100 for three Tylenol pills, and hundreds of dollars for doing skin-to-skin contact with her newborn.
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Many commenters shared that they too have received unnecessary charges after a hospital stay. “My aunt and uncle were charged for a circumcision for their daughter,” one TikTok user commented. “I got charged for two C-sections in one stay,” another mom wrote.
In 2018, the Washington Health Alliance scoured insurance claims from 1.3 million patients in Washington state who received one of 47 tests or services that medical experts have flagged as overused or unnecessary. The group found that more than 600,000 patients underwent a treatment they didn’t need and that the treatments collectively cost a whooping estimated $282 million.
The high costs of unnecessary care hospitals inflict on patients is due to various factors. For one, most hospitals are for-profit entities that are incentivized to maximize revenue, leading them to charge high prices for unnecessary services.
They also often negotiate high rates with insurance companies, and the costs of procedures are inflated to account for discounts they give to insurers. Tylenol at your local pharmacy typically costs anywhere from $5 to $15 per bottle. At most hospitals, patients are charged $15 per pill.
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Up to 80% of medical bills contain errors. Whether they are intentional or a true mistake, many hospitals assume patients will simply pay for the expensive and inaccurate charges without any investigation — don’t fall into their trap.
Request an itemized bill from the hospital to get a detailed breakdown of the charges. Verify that the medical billing codes on your bill are accurate and match the services you received.
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If you find anything out of the ordinary on the bill — like, say, charges for both a natural delivery and a C-section — contact the hospital and your insurance company. You should never be charged for a medical procedure you didn’t undergo.
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Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
