Average Medical Costs For Prenatal Care, Childbirth In US About $7,600

Prenatal Care, Childbirth

Medical expenditures associated with an uncomplicated pregnancy andhospital birth averaged about $7,600 in 2004, according to a new reportreleased by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat,10/19). For the report, the agency gathered data from 2001 to 2004 fromthree panels of the Household Component of the Medical ExpendituresSurvey. The report defined medical expenditures as payments forhospital visits, prenatal office visits, prescription medicines andother services (AHRQ report, 10/22).

Findings

The report found that for women with private insurance, the averagedelivery cost was $6,520 and the average cost for prenatal care was$1,962, compared with $4,577 and $2,142, respectively, for womenenrolled in Medicaid, the Washington Timesreports. Private health insurers covered 87% of the expenses of insuredwomen, who paid 8% of the remaining costs out of pocket and 5% from"other sources," the report said. Medicaid paid 92% of expenses forbeneficiaries, who paid less than 1% out of pocket and 8% from othersources.

According to the Times, costs associated with childbirth have increased significantly during the past 10 years. A 1997 analysis published in the Journal of Midwifery found that the average cost for a hospital birth was $5,464. Figures published in U.S. Health Care for Children indicated that the average cost for a hospital birth was $3,983 in 1987 (Harper, Washington Times, 10/22).

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