It's a lot more expensive to actually treat, and
allow to live until or past their day of birth, babies born weighing less than 2 pounds, and babies having birth defects.
"In the United States alone, 4 million babies are delivered annually, with almost 15 percent of those (500,000) being premature, defined as less than 37 weeks' gestational age.
Of these, 5 percent (25,000) are born weighing less than 2 pounds, of which 75 percent (18,750) survive [2]. Approximately 75 percent of NICU admissions are related to prematurity and 25 percent are term newborns with a variety of pathology.
Daily NICU costs exceed $3,5 per infant, and it is not unusual for costs to top $1 million for a prolonged stay. Expenditures to preserve life are limited in every society, and, although third-party payers have questioned this level of expenditures, courts have consistently reaffirmed the rights of parents to determine the treatment of their newborns....."
http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/20...for1-0810.html