Being Pregnant
3.5 Billion Dollars Annually Could Be Saved…
When you hear about saving 3.5 billion dollars in health care costs annually, you think of cutting out serious medically necessary procedures and possible coverage for women nationwide right? What if I were to tell you that if the National c-section rate was cut by just 11% it could cut 3.5 billion dollars in those health care costs?
Today the PR News Wire reported these numbers, based out of Utah. Also reported was a maternity health care cost cut of $300 million dollars per each 1% drop in the c-section rate.
The charges only represent hospital charges, not the cost of Obstetricians, re-admission to the hospital, or the cost of anesthesia.
The article states:
Nationally, about 1 in 3 births are by C-section—the most common surgery in U.S. hospitals today. This represents an all-time high, increasing by more than 50 percent since the 1990s.(6) In 2008, Intermountain estimates that 473,592 C-sections in the U.S. were potentially unnecessary.(7) These births result in higher (national) average maternal charges—$16,671.89 compared to $9,428.08 for a vaginal birth(8)—and increased medical complications for the mother and baby. (Intermountain’s average charges were $9,101.35 for a C-section and $4,964.30 for a vaginal birth.)
These numbers as well as the research was provided by Intermountain Healthcare.
Do you think lowering the c-section rate nationally could help with the increasing cost of maternity care in the United States?
photo: flickr.com/ceejayoz
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0 Comments
Heather commented on Jan 18 11 at 3:59 pmI know that it is contributing to the rising costs of health insurance. Doctors have turned birth into a convenience rather than a natural process. When a doctor elects to allow a patient to demand a certain day and time in order to deliver around work and child care schedules or to allow family matters to be present or just because they like the date, it jeopardizes the health of both mother and infant but shows the lack of integrity that is spreading through the medical profession. Sometimes they are induced weeks early so the doctor can be present because they are leaving for vacation. I have witnessed the cascading effect that interventions have on the birth process. One leads to another and finally the mother lands on an operating table having a c-section. When do we say enough is enough and allow these babies to choose their own birthday? Sometimes c-sections are life saving and the only answer to complications of mother or baby but most are not and hospitals across the country are banning VBAC attempts forcing c-sections on women. Let alone the first time mothers who are taking too long to deliver and end up with an unnecessary surgery. I feel if these surgeries were denied coverage by health insurance coverage if found unnecessary, doctors would very quickly get the rate to decline!
jennifer commented on Jan 18 11 at 4:42 pmIt would be nice to see the rate go down instead of up for the first time in over 12 years…
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