We held your baby for $38.99/0.8 seconds, but of course we'll have to keep in mind the $49.75 administrative processing fee, the $78.50 baby-holding math-calculation fee, $400 ($430.25) cleaning fee for the physical exertion of holding the baby (+$16/oz of baby, swaddling clothes included), $1600 (8 (9) easy payments of $399 ($428.80)) physical therapy for all the baby holders involved (technically one nurse but technically over 3 nurses and 2 doctors made eye contact with the baby and emotional labor is equivalent--sorry, that's just industry standards, damn unions am I right?), $99 ($152.80 (3 easy payments of $89.99 + 0% (22%) APR)) "fuck you in the mouth because we can" fee, did you want your receipt printed or emailed? Well, we took the liberty of printing it already, now hospital paper has to be absolutely Level 36 Jumbo Mumbionically sanitized to prevent Epic Baby Death Syndrome, and let me tell you, valued customer, it ain't cheap,
My favourite part of the holding your baby fee story is that whenever the photo makes the rounds on reddit or wherever, people try to explain the situation, i.e. relay the explanation the PR department of the hospital issued. The "explanation" is that the regular procedure is to take the baby away immediately for medical reasons I don't remember. Either the hospital is lying and this was a bullshit charge people with a newborn couldn't object to, or they really have an inhuman procedure that charges a new mother for one of the most human things she can do. I don't even know which would be worse.
We have something known as "WIC" (Women, Infants and Children) that you gotta apply for and it barely covers shit. You gotta be making less than poverty wages as well.
In my cashier job, you would not believe how often I've had to refuse the sale on shit like baby formula and juice because WIC seemingly randomly decided to stop covering it. This week, they might cover juice concentrate. Next week, they may only cover juice and not concentrate. Who knows!
Burgerland pays more per person for medical treatments than anywhere in the world and gets significantly less out of it than competing countries. That's how terrible the insurance middleman racket is.
Around 18% of the 2022 US GDP was healthcare expenditures. In comparison, around 6-7% of the 2022 PRC GDP was healthcare expenditures—despite having a population of more than 4x that of the US.
Right now I'm unemployed, we are on ACA, the affordable care act benefits. For people outside of this shitty country, that Obamacare. Our toddler is sick. We are trying to get our kids on CHIP, which is actually affordable benefits for our kids. Just found out that when my wife took our toddler in for possible pneumonia or liquid in his lungs, that since he isn't currently covered, if we pay for this visit out of pocket, we could be denied CHIP.
Fast update but found out that he does have pneumonia. So like treat him out of pocket and not get benefits, or what, let him possibly die from untreated pneumonia?