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Couple left with $200k bill after baby born in US (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Beep@lemmus.org to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.

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[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 12 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Why it's so capital intensive is another issue, but the matter of six figures being reasonable is to compare that to costs of similar treatments in other countries (usually it's an order of magnitude more expensive).

Healthcare just can't be free market bcs the demand side cannot be free by definition.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 1 points 44 minutes ago

A big part of that is that other countries view to medical staff as a fixed cost. They're not reflected in the "bill", much like how you don't get billed by the fire department. They're simply paid to be there, and costs for treatment are more reflective of the cost of the treatment.