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From:	Claire (97.89.28.201)
Subject:	This thread is refreshing! :-) Here are a few more pertinent facts I learned -
Date:	October 23, 2009 at 5:31 am PST

In Reply to: A totally, completely un-political post about health care posted by Claire on October 22, 2009 at 4:20 am:

I had said:

Even when my little brother was born, costs weren't anything like they are now. IIRC, the hospital bill was only a couple hundred dollars, and my mom stayed in the hospital for three days! I was a teen at the time, and I remember her saying she paid the doctor $40 a month. His bill was paid in full before she went to the hospital to give birth.

I forgot to mention the first thing below. I also had a chat with my mom since I posted this yesterday, during which she enlightened me on the last three things:

1) My brother was born in the mid-'70s,

2) Mom was pre-menopausal and didn't even realize she was pregnant until she was three months along. (I can understand if that's hard to believe, but she was tall and big-boned. I think that made a difference.) By the time of her first appointment with the doctor, she was four months along. Which means the $40 per month fee, which was paid in full by the time little bro was born, was a very small amount compared to today.

3) Partly because of her age and partly because of health considerations (a tumor was discovered on her uterus in the fifth month which was later discovered to be benign), she was considered a high-risk pregnancy, which raised the doctor's fee,

4) My dad ran a small business and had no medical insurance. Mom was not working at that time; she had no medical insurance, either. She confirmed that the hospital bill was $200, and that included the circumcision! The fees I've named were the complete cost of the doctor's and hospital bills.

These added facts are really amazing to me. What do you guys think?

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