Seniors

The hospital alone charge was close to $42,000, Medicare paid $13,000, supplemental insurance another $1200 and our co-pay was $200.

I remember even posting here: either the hospital needs $42,000 to survive, or it can do it with $15,000 (Medicare, plus insurance plus our co-pay).

The reality, of course, that hospitals charge different rated depending on the contracts that they have.

Recently the WSJ posted a long story about C-Sections in San Francisco Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center, where price might be $6,241. Or $29,257. Or $38,264. It could even go as high as $60,584.

The rate the hospital charges depends on the insurance plan covering the birth. At the bottom end of the scale is a local health plan that serves largely Medicaid recipients. At the top are prices for women whose plans don’t have the San Francisco hospital in their insurers’ network.