“Billing Infants Is Crazy” — Mom Reveals What It Costs to Deliver Twins in U.S. Healthcare System

A mom who delivered twin babies revealed the total cost of her healthcare, as cited by the medical facilities and practitioners she consulted with throughout her pregnancy, upon delivery of her twins. Emily (@_e_fish) posted a viral TikTok that's accrued over 1.3 million views on the topic, and commenters who replied to her video were shocked by her total cost of delivering twins.

Emily begins her video by stating that she's five weeks postpartum after delivering twin baby girls. She explains that she decided to post her video detailing the cost of delivering twins in the United States. What prompted her to do so was reading numerous headlines online discussing declining American birth rates.

Following this, she offered up her own explanations as to why she believes U.S. birth rates may be falling

"First and foremost, cost and I decided to take it upon myself and look back at every single bill that I received over the course of my pregnancy and total what it costs to deliver twins in America," she told viewers.

Emily went on to state that she had her twins at 36 years old, which meant that she was considered a high-risk pregnancy. She went on to detail what all of the bills she accrued during a 37-week span amounted to. "The total cost billed for my care was $120,527.51," she stated.

However, Emily indicated that she has extensive health insurance coverage. Even with a great plan, she said that she had to fork over a little over $2,000 to safely deliver her twins. "Now, I am very fortunate, I have great insurance, and I have a low deductible."

Although she did find that having to pay this amount in order to ensure a nation is populated for years to come still seems like a sizable amount for the average person to pay. "So over the course of my pregnancy, out of pocket, I paid $2,038.70. Which I know is relatively good, but still $2,000 for something that is considered necessary and vital to the future of America is pretty significant."

On top of that, she said that her babies were also billed simply for being born, and the amount cited was more than what Emily says she paid for college. "Interestingly enough, my children also received bills for their delivery. So kinda funny, they're not even able to blink yet, and they've already been billed more than the total cost of my student loans.

She then shared the medical care amounts her children were slapped without before they were even able to walk and talk. "So Baby A received a bill. She was billed $15,124.55. And Baby B was billed $14,872.55. So I guess there was some sort of sibling discount," Emily stated.

But like her own bills, Emily said that the final amount she had to pay out of pocket, thanks to her medical insurance plan, reduced the amount she needed to cover. "But the total cost that I owed from those two bills was $750, which is the cost of my deductible."

But her analysis didn't stop there. Emily wanted to take a look at the itemized breakdown she received to determine what the costliest procedure associated with the delivery of her two children was.

She then shared an anecdote about getting a biophysical profile conducted. While at her BPP appointment, she stated that she was experiencing frequent headaches whilst at the appointment.

Doctors, who wanted to rule out preeclampsia, decided to perform additional assessments. During this procedure, she was administered "two extra-strength Tylenol" and had her blood drawn and analyzed. "The cost that was billed to my insurance for that visit was $9,115," she says.

On top of that, Emily remarked that her twins were delivered via C-section and that she "spent four days in the hospital post delivery. And the total cost of my care for delivery and postpartum was $65,665.50," she revealed to her viewers.

She added that while she was "grateful" for her experience and the fact that she was able to receive coverage, she wouldn't have been able to afford the full cost of quoted care otherwise.

According to Healthcare Insider, hospitals cannot refuse care for uninsured individuals.

However, that doesn't mean folks can't be billed by these medical facilities, which could leave them with high debts they'll be left struggling to pay back. Further compounding complications when it comes to paying for healthcare in America, according to the Commonwealth Fund, is that these unpaid bills can adversely affect a person's credit score.

It's also important to consider that the quoted prices healthcare facilities charge patients are often grossly upcharged. Insurance companies will often negotiate the actual prices for care procedures with these healthcare facilities.

As NPR writes, "Insurance companies negotiate with hospitals and doctors the price of every treatment, procedure, and medical service." Which means that providers aren't covering the full quoted costs on a patient's bill.

In 2022, a federal ruling mandated that hospitals and insurance providers must abide by newly implemented price transparency laws that show the true cost of healthcare. However, as Health Affairs writes, full compliance with these laws "is still far away."