The institute found the primary driver of geographic variation in spending per childbirth is the cost of vaginal births.
For its analysis, researchers used diagnostic information to compile a pooled sample of 351,272 deliveries in 35 states. The data is from 2016-17. Researchers measured the cost of childbirth admissions using the sum of all insurer and patient out-of-pocket spending. They combined all facility and professional claims for each inpatient admission.
Here is the distribution of total spending per birth by state for 2016-17. The states are listed by lowest mean total spending per birth to highest:
$8,000
Arkansas
$9,000
Louisiana
Missouri
Mississippi
Oklahoma
$10,000
Iowa
Kansas
Utah
$11,000
District of Columbia
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Nevada
Ohio
Tennessee
$12,000
Arizona
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
North Carolina
Texas
Virginia
$13,000
Minnesota
Pennsylvania
$14,000
Colorado
Washington
Wisconsin
$15,000
Florida
New Jersey
South Carolina
$16,000
Connecticut
Massachusetts
$18,000
California
$19,000
New York
Oregon
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