National Median Cost for C-Section Covered by Commercial Insurance Is More Than $19,000

Alaska Has Highest Median In-Network Amount for Vaginal Delivery and C-Section, According to FAIR Health Cost of Giving Birth Tracker

NEW YORK, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The national median¹ total cost for a C-section for commercially insured patients staying in network is more than $19,000, and for vaginal delivery it is more than $15,000, according to FAIR Health's Cost of Giving Birth Tracker. These figures reflect the national median allowed (in-network) amount² for the procedures, and include both the portion to be paid by the plan member and the portion to be paid by the plan.

The Cost of Giving Birth Tracker is a free, interactive tool, updated today, that tracks the cost of giving birth state by state. Available on FAIR Health's website fairhealth.org, the Cost of Giving Birth Tracker consists of heat maps that show state-specific and national median charge³ and allowed amounts for vaginal deliveries and C-sections. The tool draws on the national, independent nonprofit FAIR Health's database of over 51 billion commercial healthcare claim records—the largest such repository in the country.

The Cost of Giving Birth Tracker includes inpatient and outpatient facility and professional costs. Services include the delivery itself (e.g., pharmacy, nursery, labor and delivery room, medical and surgical supplies, room and board for the mother), anesthesia, fetal nonstress tests, ultrasounds, laboratory work and a breast pump. The data come from the September 2024 release of the vaginal delivery and C-section FH^® Total Treatment Cost benchmarks.

Among the findings of the Cost of Giving Birth Tracker:

• Alaska is the state with the highest median allowed amount for vaginal deliveries, $29,152.08, followed by (in order from highest to lowest) New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California.
• Alaska also has the highest median allowed amount for C-sections, $39,531.62, followed by Maine, Vermont, Oregon and New Jersey.
• Mississippi has the lowest median allowed amount for vaginal deliveries, $9,847.37, followed by (in order from lowest to highest) Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri.
• Mississippi also has the lowest median allowed amount for C-sections, $11,110.18, followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The Cost of Giving Birth Tracker is one of FAIR Health's series of FH^® Trackers offering geographic windows into healthcare data. The series also includes the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, which tracks telehealth utilization by region across the nation, and the Opioid Tracker, which tracks opioid abuse and dependence.

For the Cost of Giving Birth Tracker, click here.

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About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of commercial healthcare claims data, which includes over 51 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of about 4 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its commercial data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D, which accounts for a separate collection of over 51 billion claim records; FAIR Health includes among the commercial claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:
Rachel Kent
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
FAIR Health
646-396-0795
[email protected]

¹ A median is the midpoint of the distribution of values below and above which there is an equal number of values.
² An allowed amount is the total fee negotiated between an insurance plan and a provider for an in-network service.
³ A charge amount is the amount charged to a patient who is uninsured or obtaining an out-of-network service.

SOURCE FAIR Health