This Hospital Bill Is Going Viral. Why? This Is What Childbirth Costs In A Nation Without Public Healthcare

Credit: Hubspot.net
Credit: Hubspot.net


Having a baby should be an exciting, heartwarming endeavor, not a soul-crushing, fearsome experience.

Yet, for millions of people who don’t live in a nation with universal health care, the stack of bills after a hospital visit can be just that.

Twitter user @YumiYoko conveyed this to the world when, earlier this year, she delivered a baby via caesarean section and received a bill from Philadelphia’s Abington Memorial Hospital for over $42,000.

Credit: @
Credit: @YumiYoko

The bill (above) went viral after British actor Stephen McGann (who plays a doctor in popular British TV Drama ‘Call the Midwife’) tweeted it to fans with the caption:

“Dear UK, this is what childbirth looks like without an NHS…”

Millions have since glanced at the bill and tweeted it to others in disgust. Is this what citizens in the United States have to deal with?

Unfortunately, yes. Under the US profit-making private healthcare system, ridiculously high costs for ‘treatment’ aren’t surprising.

In fact, the US remains to be the only nation in the developed world that fails to provide universal healthcare for its citizens. Even Cuba, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, and oil-rich nations Saudi Arabia and Oman have prioritized their resources to ensure universal access to medicine and treatment.

But in the ‘richest nation on Earth’, lawmakers continue to argue that public healthcare is unaffordable.

As Addicting Info reports, it’s actually much cheaper in the long-run to supply citizens with healthcare. Britain’s NHS, for example, saves more lives per pound ($1.62) than any heath care system on Earth – except for Ireland. In addition, the Brits spend half the equivalent GDP the US spends on healthcare.

The United States, in comparison, was reported by think tank’s The Commonwealth Fund to have the most expensive and least effective healthcare system of all industrialized nations.

Obamacare has helped the crisis, reports CNN. According to a poll by Gallup, nearly 90% of Americans now have health insurance. Still, the US needs to join the rest of the civilized world and provide universal, effective and efficient public healthcare for its citizens.

No one should have to suffer under crippling debt after embarking upon a new journey in life.

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