The Cost of Raising Eight Premature Children ($2.9 million?)

Insweb reports that the average cost of a hospital stay for a premature baby in California is about $160,000. For eight premature babies the octuplet's mom should have a hospital bill of around $1.3 million. The Department of Agriculture has a Child Cost Calculator you can use to estimate the annual cost of raising a child. They also publish an annual update to Expenditures on Children by Families. The latest report indicates that the cost of raising a child to age 18 in a two-child middle income family is about $200,000. Ignoring economies of scale in an eight-child family, the total cost of raising eight children is approximately $1.6 million. Consequently, not counting a few extras (6 other children) the octuplet mom should budget for about $2.9 million.