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Comment by Naritai | Hacker News Reader

It's for the pediatrician's services. Remember, Babies generally stay in the hospital for 48-72 hours after birth, and they get visited and tested by doctors and nurses during that time, not to mention vaccines, care in the nursery, etc... it actually makes a lot of sense that the baby be considered the patient.

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You are missing the reason I'm surprised and amused - and I'm really not sure how much clearer I can be here. It's not that healthcare services themselves are charged. The baby is billed. Like a letter with the little transparent window with the name and address of a couple-of-days old child is sent.

If you cannot see why that seems weird, shocking, amusing ... whatever then I don't know what else I can tell you.

The first letter you got after a birth in Germany used to read something like this and is addressed to the newborn (hopefully they have changed it by now):

Regarding: Assignment of the Tax ID according to § 139b of the tax code

Dear <name of the newborn>,

the Federal Central Tax Office has assigned you the Tax ID <number>. It is used for taxation purposes and valid your whole life. Please keep this letter even if you are currently not paying any taxes. Always mention your Tax ID when communicating with financial authorities. Please also note the information on the back.

Kind regards, your Federal Central Tax Office

The bill is addressed to the parent(s), most commonly. It just lists the child as the patient.

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