Husband Reacts To Hospital Bill Charging $4,000 Because He Held His Baby
While the husband's reaction was hilarious, many new parents are in the same boat when it comes to high hospital bills.
Tim Mossholder | Unsplash A couple who recently welcomed a baby were shocked after receiving their hospital bill. In a TikTok video, Jenny and her husband, Josh, content creators who make videos on both TikTok and YouTube about their family, shared their reaction after seeing the hospital bill for their daughter's birth.
While it's always jarring to see an itemized bill for any medical procedure or doctor visit, one item really through Josh, and understandably so. If you can believe it, the hospital charged the couple for Dad simply holding his infant daughter. Yeah, you read that right, and it wasn't just a measly micro-charge.
Mom Jenny recorded her husband's reaction to a $4,000 hospital charge for holding their baby.
In the video, Jenny hilariously caught her husband's reaction to the charges on their hospital bill, but one specific charge had him ready to give back their newborn daughter.
"The epidural was about $17,253," she told her husband, who had been rocking their baby. At the mention of the amount, he immediately froze, appearing in disbelief as he asked his wife to repeat the number again slowly.
However, the charges only seemed to get worse. For staying 24 hours at the hospital, Jenny and Josh were charged $3,675.60, while the food provided amounted to $176.70.
While all of those charges were quite high, Josh was shocked to learn that the skin-to-skin contact he had with their daughter, Kimmery, after she was born, was also added to their bill. "The skin-to-skin contact you had with Kimmery was $4,000," she read to her husband. "The skin-to-skin for me was free."Â
With complete incredulity, Josh questioned how, for one, the pizza provided by the hospital rounded out to almost $200, and why he was being charged such a high price for simply holding his own child to his chest after she was born.
Reading off the total, which included the discount from their insurance, it came to $28,219. Jenny told Josh they had 30 days to set up a payment plan to settle their bill.
Even with insurance, the cost of childbirth can be financially devastating to parents.
Lopolo | Shutterstock
The American health care system is deeply flawed. Outside of politically driven motivators, the major cause of blame lies with large for-profit health insurance companies. Not only do these companies have the ability to reject life-saving care for patients, but they also set the pricing for the entire medical model.
Hospitals and drug companies fall right in line because they want a piece of the pie as well. In 2026, costs of employee-provided insurance are expected to rise so drastically that take-home pay will be noticeably less. That's because employers have no intention of eating those costs. Ultimately, it's the patients who always foot the bill.
According to the Peterson-KSS Health System Tracker, "On average, the health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum care amount to $20,416, including $2,743 in out-of-pocket expenses, for women enrolled in employer plans. Childbirth and post-partum health spending among employer health plan enrollees varies by the type of delivery; costs for pregnancies resulting in a vaginal delivery average $15,712 ($2,563 of which is paid out-of-pocket), while those resulting in cesarean section (C-section) average $28,998 ($3,071 of which is paid out-of-pocket)."
However, without health insurance, parents can be expected to pay up to $18,865 for childbirth. Any complications or high-risk medical scenarios will increase these costs exponentially.
Many argued that the couple should dispute the skin-to-skin charge.
While many TikTok users were equally shocked as Josh by the charge for skin-to-skin contact, others encouraged him and Jenny to call the hospital and question many of the items on their bill.
In a study published in JAMA Health Forum, almost one in five new parents got an unexpected charge averaging $744 on their hospital bill following childbirth, while other unlucky parents were subjected to a surprise bill of up to $2,000. As many people pointed out, new parents can ask for things on their hospital bills to be itemized. Under a new federal rule, hospitals are now required to post their list prices for tests and procedures online.
In an interview with HuffPost, Misty McCrackin, a medical billing specialist with Hudson Valley Medical Bill Advocates, encouraged new parents to reach out to a representative from their hospital billing department to go over any concerns they have about the overall bill received. Especially since an estimated 7% to 49% of paid claims contain billing errors, according to NBC News.
At the end of the day, Jenny and Josh have a beautiful, healthy baby to love and cherish, which is the most important part of the story. Hopefully, they are able to contest some of the more ridiculous charges associated with the childbirth bill, but ultimately, the costs won't change much. That's why it's imperative that we, as voters, demand reform in healthcare. No one should avoid seeking medical attention because of cost. It's as simple as that.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
