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Having a baby in America can come with balloons, tiny socks and a hospital bill that hits like a second mortgage.
That disconnect is exactly what bothered longtime Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chair Charlie Munger years before healthcare costs became an even bigger pressure point for families.
“Well I’m one of the few Republicans you’ll ever talk to that thinks we should have a single-payer system,” Munger told Yahoo Finance in 2019. “But not one of the type that we’re going to yet.”
Munger then pointed to Singapore’s healthcare system as a model he believed made far more economic sense.
“If you look at the single-payer system of Singapore it costs 20% of what ours cost and that’s an advanced civilized nation,” Munger said. “And of course the people are a lot healthier. Well, of course, I’d rather spend 80% less and have the people healthier.”
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He argued that the U.S. healthcare structure had become both economically inefficient and deeply burdensome for working families and businesses alike.
“American manufacturers have this terrible burden of unnecessary health costs,” Munger said. “We have an insane medical system that grew like Topsy by accident with the help of a lot of dumb governmental intervention.”
Munger then shifted to what he viewed as one of the clearest signs the healthcare system was failing ordinary families.
“If a young family has to pay a $5,000 deductible to have a baby, they don’t really have medical insurance,” Munger said. “It isn’t just the Medicare that’s wrong. The whole damn system is going wrong.”
A Delivery Room Bill That Still Hurts
Munger’s comments remain painfully relevant as healthcare costs continue climbing even for insured families.
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Today, the average total cost for pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care under employer-sponsored insurance plans sits above $20,000. Families still pay thousands out of pocket through deductibles, copays and coinsurance, with C-sections often costing significantly more than vaginal births.
High-deductible plans have only intensified the issue. Many families now face bills spread across multiple plan years, turning childbirth into a financial stress test before the baby even comes home from the hospital.
Munger’s broader frustration centered on incentives. He repeatedly argued that America’s healthcare system rewarded inefficiency, excessive testing and unnecessary procedures while passing rising costs onto consumers and employers.
“The amount of unnecessary tests, unnecessary prolongation of inevitable death that’s going on is a national disgrace,” Munger said. “Of course I don’t like it.”
Why Singapore Kept Coming Up
Munger frequently praised Singapore because its healthcare system combined universal coverage with stricter cost controls and personal medical savings accounts.
The comparison mattered because Singapore spends only a fraction of what the United States spends on healthcare as a percentage of GDP while still producing strong health outcomes and longer life expectancy.
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That efficiency appealed to Munger’s investor brain. He viewed bloated healthcare spending not just as a medical issue, but as an economic drag that hurt U.S. competitiveness and strained household finances.
Families dealing with rising medical costs often turn to a financial advisor to build emergency savings, prepare for major healthcare expenses and avoid high-interest debt tied to deductibles or unexpected procedures. The problem, as Munger saw it, is that insurance itself increasingly fails to provide the financial protection many people assume they already have.
Munger passed away in 2023, but his criticism of a healthcare system that “grew like Topsy” still resonates as costs continue climbing.
And years later, his central point remains difficult to ignore: if bringing a child into the world still leaves insured families staring at bills in the thousands, what exactly is insurance supposed to be doing?
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This article Charlie Munger Said If A Family Has To Pay $5K To Have A Baby, ‘They Don’t Really Have Medical Insurance’ —The Whole System Is ‘Going Wrong’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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