Bill moved to Colorado but stays in touch mostly by commenting on these Tips.
Tuesday, he sent a copy of the invoice for the birth of his older sister at Madison General Hospital.
Dated 12/14/1947, it details in just six typed (how quaint) lines these charges:
- “LAB FEE $5.50
- “BIRTH FEE & DRESSINGS $10.00
- “ANES FEE $3.00
- “SP (Special?) MED 12/14 $ .75
- “RM & SERV 12/14-21 $38.50 (that’s eight days!!)
- “BABES [SIC] CARE 12/14-21 $7.00”
The invoice is zeroed out with CASH payments; $50 on 12/14 (at admission) and $14.75 on 12/21 (presumably at discharge).
Eat your heart out (insert Health System here)!
Bill noted his Dad was a Madison firefighter, making what was considered good pay at the time. Google tells me the median income 74 years ago was $3,000; i.e., he spent 2% of income for his first child.
Median income today is about $68,703. A complication free vaginal delivery costs $10,800; 16% of income. (With pre/post-natal care, it’s closer to $30K.)
At this rate, if a child born today needs knee replacement surgery in 2095 – another 74 years – what will it cost?
$9,519,000.
And Jerome Powell thinks he’s worried about inflation!
