A pregnant woman is considered “full term” at 37 weeks even though most natural births occur around week 40. Preterm infants are born before 37 weeks. Extremely preterm babies require medical intervention and hospital stays for weeks before going home with their parents. Premature births are only 1.3% of claimants but represent over $67 million in paid stop-loss claims. The cost of a premature birth with complications is 12 times higher than that of a normal full term birth; $55,393 for a preterm birth compared to $5,085 for a normal full term birth in 2009 (1). Trends in preterm infant care Million Dollar Babies The Impact of Multiples Stop Loss and Preterm Infants Continue Reading >
