Data: FAIR Health; Note: Costs include the delivery itself, anesthesia, fetal nonstress tests, ultrasounds, laboratory work and breast pump; Map: Alice Feng/Axios
Having a baby isn't cheap anywhere, but there are some states in the U.S. where it's far pricier to give birth than others, according to data provided first to Axios from FAIR Health.
Why it matters: FAIR Health's new Cost of Giving Birth Tracker — which uses data from more than 41 billion private healthcare claim records — offers a glimpse at how much variability there is in the cost of one of the most common health care services.
Zoom in: Alaska has the highest median allowed in-network amount for vaginal deliveries, $21,525.77, followed by New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
- Alabama had the lowest median allowed in-network amount for vaginal deliveries, $7,840.62, followed by (in order from lowest to highest), Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
- Alaska also had the highest median allowed amount for C-sections, $25,518.63 while Alabama also had the lowest median allowed amount for C-sections, $8,913.31.
