How to Negotiate a Childbirth Hospital Bill

Childbirth is one of the most expensive healthcare events for families, with vaginal deliveries averaging $7,500 for insured patients and C-sections averaging $11,500. Uninsured patients face bills of $14,500 for vaginal deliveries and $22,000 for C-sections. Medicare pays $4,200-5,800 for these procedures.

Delivery bills are particularly prone to errors and inflated charges. Common issues include separate nursery fees that should be bundled, newborn care charges duplicated between OB and pediatric billing, and skin-to-skin contact fees for holding your own baby. Request an itemized bill and scrutinize every charge.

If the global OB package code (59400 for vaginal, 59510 for C-section) was billed, this should include prenatal visits, delivery, and postpartum care. Check that you are not also being billed separately for prenatal visits that are already included in the global package.

New parents are often eligible for financial assistance programs, especially when the added household member changes income-to-household-size ratios for Federal Poverty Level calculations. BillDelete can help you generate both a negotiation letter and a financial assistance application specific to childbirth billing.