US couple charged $51 to hold their newborn son

A new dad has sparked an online free-for-all about medical bills after revealing a US hospital charged him $51 dollars to cuddle with his newborn son.

Ryan Grassley from Provo, Utah posted an itemised hospital bill on Reddit detailing the unusual hidden charge incurred after his wife’s C-section birth on September 4.

He said after the birth, the couple were asked if they wanted to do "skin to skin" time with baby Samuel to help bonding.

"The nurse let me hold the baby on my wife’s neck/chest," Grassley.

"[The nurse] even borrowed my camera to take a few pictures for us."

But it was when the US father received the hospital bill he realised he has been charged $51 for the privilege of holding his own son.

"We just got a chuckle out of seeing that on the bill," he wrote.

The bill also revealed his wife had been charged per breast for a breast check, with the bill indicating two items had been charged.

Grassley said he posted the bill to Reddit because he "thought it was funny" but he could hardly have imagined the torrent of responses of similar hidden hospital costs.

A day later, there are over 12,000 comments from disgruntled and bemused patients venting their own frustration at the US healthcare system, which was ranked the worst in the developed world in the Commonwealth Fund survey.

One user, usersingleton recalled how he was handed a $4000 bill after receiving a series of tests when his insurer refused to cover the costs. After a lengthy dispute with the hospital the fee was dropped to $25.

Another user, prettyflyforadataguy, also weighed in on the discussion with his own costly hospital story.

"My friend and I had the same surgery at the same hospital with the same surgeon one day apart. I paid cash and she used insurance. Her bill was $US300,000 ($394,096) and insurance paid $US100,000 ($131,365). I paid cash and my entire bill was $US12,200 ($16,026)."

The US is currently ranked 37 on the World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems.

Grassley even created a GoFundMe page yesterday as a joke. He has raised almost $100.

Despite being dismayed by the bill, Grassley insisted he held no malice towards the hospital.

"We had a very positive experience during the birth of our son, and the hospital and staff were great throughout the entire process," he wrote online.