How far we've come

[lunatic59]

I came across this hospital rate card from the 50's (a little before I was born).

Not counting the doctor's fee, the hospital charged around $200* to have a baby, provided there were no complications.

*In those days, they kept you for a few nights before discharging the mom.

60 years later ...

 

[MoodyBlues]

I came across this hospital rate card from the 50's (a little before I was born).

View attachment 140098

Not counting the doctor's fee, the hospital charged around $200* to have a baby, provided there were no complications.

*In those days, they kept you for a few nights before discharging the mom.

60 years later ...

View attachment 140100

I don't see the actual year on the '50s chart; do you know it?

How did you stumble upon that? It's astonishing compared to today's rates!

 

[lunatic59]

It was from a Facebook group that is connected to our local historical society. They dated it ca.1952.

Of course the average income in 1952 was $2,800.

 

[GameTheory]

Ok not as way back as the hospital rate card since I'm not in the old fart age yet . At least don't think so . But...

Did any of you folks have one of these slider cable boxes in the 80s? I had it with "Cable Vison". How annoying it was having to get up to channel surf.

We sure came a long way...

Spoiler: click to show cable box

 

[lunatic59]

Never saw anything like that @GameTheory

My first cable connection was in the mid-80's but it was direct into the TV. No decoder, no tuner etc. networks were just assigned to arbitrary channels. And, if you split the cable, you could steal cable service all day long.

 

[GameTheory]

Never saw anything like that @GameTheory

My first cable connection was in the mid-80's but it was direct into the TV. No decoder, no tuner etc. networks were just assigned to arbitrary channels. And, if you split the cable, you could steal cable service all day long.

I vaguely remember that. I think you had to set the tv on channel 3 to get the cable channels. What I don't remember was how you change channels.

 

[Unforgiven]

I had something like this.

And my uncles would slip a playing card between the face and the casing and somehow enable all the paid channels.

 

[jhtalisman]

That was before everything related to healthcare became extremely profit driven, knowing that they could charge whatever they wanted and people would have to pay it. It also does not help that most healthcare related companies, whether insurance or hospital, now have to answer to shareholders regarding that profit.

 

[olbriar]

I came across this hospital rate card from the 50's (a little before I was born).

View attachment 140098

Not counting the doctor's fee, the hospital charged around $200* to have a baby, provided there were no complications.

*In those days, they kept you for a few nights before discharging the mom.

60 years later ...

View attachment 140100

I was a part of that 1952 class of babies and I guarantee you, $200 was too much to pay for me.

Due to the fact I was quite poor and then strange insurance circumstances, I paid for all four of my children out of pocket. 1975, 1979, 1990, and 1991 birth dates... don't ask.. long sad story lol. In any event, not remembering exact prices of each child, I do recall that the last child cost six times the amount of the first. All births were normal births. The only major difference between them was the first, mother and child, spent three days in the hospital. The last child we were in and out without any stay at all.

I can't say if the medical industry fed off of the insurance industry or vice versa. It's most likely they fed off of each other. Whatever the cause, medical expenses have definitely escalated over the years.

As chance would have it, I was the last patient of the day.. of the career... of my personal physician and good friend. He patched me up and then he cracked open a bottle of Jack and we drank and swapped life stories until the wee hours. Mostly he spoke of how the medical industry had chanced through the years. He was sad how an occupation of caring had turned into a I care for your money industry. The one thing that's stuck in my memory was he said that he had zero insurance when he opened his practice and the last year of business he paid over $100,000 for malpractice insurance. People changed through the years too.

 

[MoodyBlues]

It was from a Facebook group that is connected to our local historical society. They dated it ca.1952.

The year my sister was born. My OLDER sister.

Of course the average income in 1952 was $2,800.

Yes, indeed. I wonder what that equates to in 2019 dollars. Maybe I'll plug it into an inflation calculator...

 

[MoodyBlues]

Ok not as way back as the hospital rate card since I'm not in the old fart age yet . At least don't think so .

It sneaks up on you faster than you'd believe!

But...

Did any of you folks have one of these slider cable boxes in the 80s? I had it with "Cable Vison". How annoying it was having to get up to channel surf.

We sure came a long way...

Spoiler: click to show cable box

No...I don't even recall seeing anything like that before.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Never saw anything like that @GameTheory

Me either!

My first cable connection was in the mid-80's but it was direct into the TV. No decoder, no tuner etc. networks were just assigned to arbitrary channels.

Same here--straight into the TV.

And, if you split the cable, you could steal cable service all day long.

I wouldn't know! *cough*

 

[MoodyBlues]

The last child we were in and out without any stay at all.

Damn! I was in the hospital for 8 days--and it would've been much longer if I hadn't been such a headstrong teenager!

My 10-pound daughter wreaked havoc on my anatomy, making it impossible to pee. Day after day they'd take out the Foley catheter, force liquids, wait as long as was safe--with no results--put in another Foley catheter and call it a day.

My obstetrician wasn't going to release me until I could pee; I threatened to leave AMA. We compromised: I could go home, but only if I immediately got under the care of a urologist; I did, and every 2 days or so I'd go in...and leave with another Foley catheter in place.

Finally, THREE AND A HALF WEEKS later (4-1/2 weeks after delivery) the momentous event happened: I peed!

By the way, my daughter was born on April Fool's Day.

 

[olbriar]

My wife was a birthing machine. Six hours labor with the first and a couple of hours maybe with the last. Not that she didn't suffer tremendously during labor but it was a done deal once it started. She wanted more children and we would have had a larger family if my income could have kept them fed.

 

[GameTheory]

It sneaks up on you faster than you'd believe!

Tell me about it. I have a 30 year old nephew that calls me a dinosaur.

No...I don't even recall seeing anything like that before.

Same here--straight into the TV.

Yeah started with cable straight to tv, but then they moved to cable boxes like the ones me and Unforgiven posted. I guess to give customers more channels. As you know these were updated over the years to the nice digital ones we have now.

The 90s were great though because you can pay $10 per month for basic cable then buy a hacked cable box and get all channels including paper-view for free. Not that I would know anything about that.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Tell me about it. I have a 30 year old nephew that calls me a dinosaur.

Look out! Old fart is just around the corner. But you're in good company here, as there are a number of us old geezers hanging around.

Yeah started with cable straight to tv, but then they moved to cable boxes like the ones me and Unforgiven posted. I guess to give customers more channels. As you know these were updated over the years to the nice digital ones we have now.

Actually, I don't know--I switched to DirecTV ≈1993 and never looked back. I was living out-of-state and got "NBA League Pass" so I could watch ALL Lakers games, as if from home, so I got to see the legendary Chick Hearn at his best. I also had "NFL Sunday Prime Ticket" to watch the 49ers.

The 90s were great though because you can pay $10 per month for basic cable then buy a hacked cable box and get all channels including paper-view for free. Not that I would know anything about that.

I think I've watched (and paid for!) maybe half a dozen pay-per-view things in all these years. I'm not a boxing fan or anything like that, so paying-per-view for stuff like that doesn't interest me. An occasional pay-per-movie is about it for me.

 

[Deleted User]

I came across this hospital rate card from the 50's (a little before I was born).

View attachment 140098

Not counting the doctor's fee, the hospital charged around $200* to have a baby, provided there were no complications.

*In those days, they kept you for a few nights before discharging the mom.

60 years later ...

View attachment 140100

Amazing. Is that in line with inflation? Or is it like house prices, which in the UK have in recent years, far outstripped the ability of the average person to realistically afford them.
I suppose it's different with medical costs, because you rely on your insurance to cover it.

 

[lunatic59]

This is just the last 20 years.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Amazing. Is that in line with inflation? Or is it like house prices, which in the UK have in recent years, far outstripped the ability of the average person to realistically afford them.

Housing costs vary wildly across the US. Here in the most expensive housing state, California, many people have been priced out of buying. I could sell my home here and buy the entire block of the house I owned in Dallas. (But NOTHING will ever again cause me to leave beautiful Southern California.)

I suppose it's different with medical costs, because you rely on your insurance to cover it.

Yeah...no...I don't know about that! The most common reason for filing bankruptcy is medical bills.

 

[Bearsyzf]

Look out! Old fart is just around the corner. But you're in good company here, as there are a number of us old geezers hanging around.

Actually, I don't know--I switched to DirecTV ≈1993 and never looked back. I was living out-of-state and got "NBA League Pass" so I could watch ALL Lakers games, as if from home, so I got to see the legendary Chick Hearn at his best. I also had "NFL Sunday Prime Ticket" to watch the 49ers.

I think I've watched (and paid for!) maybe half a dozen pay-per-view things in all these years. I'm not a boxing fan or anything like that, so paying-per-view for stuff like that doesn't interest me. An occasional pay-per-movie is about it for me.

Thanks to Mike Tyson i have not ordered a pay per view since. $45 dollar for a 1 minute fight

 

[Unforgiven]

Thanks to Mike Tyson i have not ordered a pay per view since. $45 dollar for a 1 minute fight

James Buster Douglas.

 

[GameTheory]

Thanks to Mike Tyson i have not ordered a pay per view since. $45 dollar for a 1 minute fight

Haha very funny and so true. I remember having friends and family over to watch. We sit down, Tyson throws a punch and it's over. Like WTF!

 

[GameTheory]

We went from the "Thrilla in Manilla" to boxers fighting MMA fighters, and youtubers fighting each other on pay-per-view. Sheesh!

 

[dontpanicbobby]

It was from a Facebook group that is connected to our local historical society. They dated it ca.1952.

Of course the average income in 1952 was $2,800.

$53USD a week seems a little high for '52. @lunatic59.
Did your family own their own business?

 

[lunatic59]

$53USD a week seems a little high for '52. @lunatic59.
Did your family own their own business?

I just went off of figures that were reported to Social Security for that year. In 1952 my father was a newly ordained minister and was assigned to a small congregation in Pasadena, CA. I doubt he cleared more than $30/wk.