25 people share medical bills from the 20th century to demonstrate how exorbitant prices are now

The astronomical healthcare costs in the United States have a proven track record of shocking people from other countries. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, a whopping 83% of Americans, regardless of their wealth, claimed that excellent medical care has become virtually unaffordable in the country. Furthermore, according to the study, nearly half of working-age Americans, or 41%, are struggling to pay off their medical expenditures and have accrued debt over time. 

To put this into perspective, several people have taken to social media over the years to post medical bills and receipts from the past that were so inexpensive that they seem almost unbelievable now. The documents—which range from a $7.50 X-ray charge from 1950 to a $4.85 labor and delivery bill from 1947—show how costs were before they took a disastrous turn less than a century ago.

Here are 25 such medical bills from the past that seem too good to be true:

1. "This receipt for the hospital bill charged to my great grandmother when she had my grandfather in 1930, the total cost was $38."

2. "Happy 72nd Birthday Mom! Here's the $65 Minneapolis hospital bill for a week's stay."

3. "Old medical bill."

4. "The hospital bill from my dad's birth in 1955. (Note the 5-day hospital stay)."

5. "Medical bill from 1977."

6. "In 1948, a 2-day hospital stay cost less than 30 bucks."

7. "I found this hospital bill sent to my great-aunt for the birth of her child in 1939 (US)."

8. "This medical bill from 1914 for $13.87."

9. "My Great Grandma's medical bill from 1950."

10. "The Hospital Bill for my birth on 1-18-1958. Note the insurance info is in red."

11. "Hospital bill from my grandpa's birth circa 1929."

12. "My grandma's 1951 hospital bill for maternity services. Grand total for one live infant birth - $50."

13. "Hospital bill from when my Grandpa blew up a stump with homemade TNT and lost his eye."

14. "This 1933 hospital bill for a 7-day hospital stay and delivery."

15. "My grandma’s hospital bill after giving birth to my dad in 1955."

16. "My medical school professor showed me this bill from his birth in 1955 (in the United States)."

17. "The total cost for my birth in 1971 in Virginia... $350.25"

18. "My grandmama just passed away and we found the hospital bill of when she had my aunt in 1957. Insurance paid $100 so they ended up paying $2.95 for having a baby."

19. "1948 hospital bill."

20. "Here's the bill for the birth of my dad back in 1947 in rural Wisconsin (Mondovi, WI, just outside of Eau Claire). 10 days in the hospital seems fairly normal for back then."

21. "Grandpa's hospital bill from 1944."

22. "1947 hospital bill found out my parents' attic. Not sure who it's for."

23. "Hospital bill I found in the garbage at work. From the 1940s."

24. "How much it cost to be born in 1946."

25. "Hospital bill from 1939."