The Cost of a Maternity Delivery

Bob Greene: I was fortunate enough to have two kids delivered at BJC. He says the experience cost him something like $15, but it didn't cost his fellow Washington University workers who were covered by their insurance premiums. But when we got the bill, there's a long list of stuff on the bill, and one of the charges is for orange juice, he says. Greene: That number doesn't really have any meaning. If everybody started bringing their own orange juice, because they said, my gosh, the hospital, when you get it there, they charge you $100. They really wouldn't reduce the cost of deliveries by $100, right? that's just an illusion