The total hospital bill for my grandfather’s birth in 1948 was $108.33. That included 15 bucks for the delivery room.

    by Anon_lurker777

    27 Comments

    1. FiveDozenWhales on

      More than $2,000 in today’s money.

      Still insanely cheaper than today’s insurance-company-inflated prices.

    2. Faith_Location_71 on

      Interesting when compared to house prices around the same time:

      Quote: “If you want to buy a house this year, you may well be paying around $199,200, the median price for a home in the U.S., according to Zillow.

      That’s far more than you’d have forked over 10, 20 or 50 years ago. In 1940, the median home value in the U.S. was just $2,938. In 1980, it was $47,200, and by 2000, it had risen to $119,600. Even adjusted for inflation, the median home price in 1940 would only have been $30,600 in 2000 dollars, according to data from the U.S. Census.

      Of course, location matters. The median value for a house in New Mexico in 1940 was just $656 — or $6,800 when adjusted to 2000 dollars. The same year, the median value for a home in California clocked in at $3,527, or the equivalent of $36,700.”

      [https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/how-much-housing-prices-have-increased-since-1940-in-every-state.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/how-much-housing-prices-have-increased-since-1940-in-every-state.html)

    3. 9 days in the hospital, I’d be going insane. We did 2 nights for my first, and one night for the second and third. Get us out of there!

      I wonder if the mom was anesthetized for this though, apparently that was more common back in the day. I see anesthetist on the bill, but was that general or an epidural?

    4. Before insurance and Medicare everything was less expensive. If you have a near infinite supply of money you can charge near infinite prices.

    5. Bicentennial_Douche on

      The birth of my daughter cost us 110 euros in 2014. This included several nights at a family room so they could observe her feeding (she was born with cleft lip and palate).

      This in Finland. 

    6. I don’t think anyone would want the same quality of care that was offered back then. We pay more for higher quality now, even in single payer countries where the patient doesn’t see the full cost.

    7. Outrageous-Candy-939 on

      Worth $1503.66 according to the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator… still less than my annual premium.

    8. While definitely a lot cheaper it should be noted the infant mortality rate in 1948 was about six times what it is today. 

    9. My bill for my kid 3 years ago was about $8,000. Standard delivery, no complications. And I have insurance

    10. lolathedreamer on

      Like 8ish Years ago I was having a bad reaction to an antibiotic and wanted to go to the ER. Unfortunately for me, this was New Years Eve and surge prices to go to the hospital 2 miles away from me were astronomical. I tried to drive myself so about a mile away from the hospital I realized my vision was going black and quickly pulled onto a side street. A passerby called the ambulance (after first accusing me of being a drunk driver). I ended up with a bill for an ambulance after that. It was exactly $108. Crazily enough, the ambulance bill was cheaper than the original Uber I was going to take by about $30. 😂

    11. Thats $1,451 in 2025-dollars adjusting for inflation. Our hospital bill for our kid’s birth in 2008 came to $95,000 after the hospital adjusted for their greed.

    12. Glass-March-176 on

      And that’s with a 9-day stay (common back then). With the 2-day stay like now that bill would have been like $56

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