Bernie Sanders is at it again, this time attempting to claim that childbirth will be free under his Medicare-for-all plan:

Average cost of childbirth in the United States: $32,000 Average cost of childbirth with Medicare for All: $0 — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 10, 2019

First up, here’s where he’s getting his numbers from:

So, don’t freak out over those five-digit bills, initially. “Those commercial charges are basically a ruse,” says Carol Sakala, the director of Childbirth Connection programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “Our research found that hospitals charged over $32,000 for a vaginal birth, on average, but the actual amount paid by the insurance company, the mother, and any other third parties added up to about $18,000. Meanwhile, the out-of-pocket cost is much, much less.”

And as you can see, that math doesn’t add up:

Socialist math 101 https://t.co/dZuifjRlYC — Harminder Singh (@hsingh_hk) September 10, 2019

He left out the unicorns:

Well, technically $0 and a unicorn sacrifice https://t.co/9EpMzGq7d9 — Krystle Baker (@TarheelKrystle) September 10, 2019

Any fact checkers want to chime in?

BREAKING: Fact checkers are all out for coffee right now. Unavailable to dispute this BS. https://t.co/2XMHUdoFy7 — ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) September 10, 2019

And since we don’t see PolitiFact or any of the others jumping all over it, here’s Charles C.W. Cooke with the takedown:

What Bernie is doing here, if it's not obvious, is having it both ways. https://t.co/tfKkzvymvj (1) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

In the first example, Bernie is citing the total average cost incurred on the back end—not the cost to the consumer. In the second example, he's citing the direct cost to the consumer if consumers weren't charged directly (and he's ignoring the taxes that would be necessary). (2) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

He needs to choose a comparison. Either he should compare how much the total average cost would be on the back end within the status quo to how much the total average cost on the backend would be if the government were the only payer, or (3) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

he should compare how much an average consumer is charged now (including premiums) with how much an average consumer would be charged under his plan (including taxes). But he can't mix and match. There's also a problem with his numbers. (4) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

The $32,000 number is the average cost on the back end, if you include every single birth in the U.S., and therefore all complicated cases. But the average cost to the consumer in the U.S. for a delivery is ~$3,500, and ~$8,800 for the whole process, pre-natal to post-partum. (5) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

He really does seem to think that if you declare something free at the point of delivery, it becomes free to produce. And if he doesn't think that, he thinks that you do. (6) — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 10, 2019

Socialist gonna socialist.

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