Dr. Dettwyler asked: > Why not just buy the formula at normal retail >prices and then add it to the bill? <snip> > Why >is formula so different? Why not just charge the patients? The hospitals >could still agree to exclusively use one company's products..... I think the problem may be the specter of managed care. As insurance companies begin to pay a flat fee for services such as vaginal or c-section deliveries, it won't matter what's added to the bill, because any charges that exceed the flat fee just won't be paid. Hospitals will have to agree to accept whatever the negotiated rate is and won't be able to bill the parents for anything. Therefore, hospitals must cut costs wherever they can, and not paying for formula is one of those ways. At least, that's how it has been explained to me, when I've asked my boss the very same question. I've heard the free formula saves our hospital about a quarter of a million dollars a year, and when Baby Friendly principles go head to head with that much of the institution's money..... :-( I was quite interested in the post about some Australian hospitals requiring moms to bring formula with them when they come in to deliver, but our population is about 40% indigent women, who might not be able to do that, so I don't think that would work for us, either. Judy Dunlap, RNC, IBCLC