Posted on 08/08/2013 7:05:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As health care costs in the United States rise, an increasing number of Americans are going overseas for elective procedures, or are at least considering that possibility.
In response to an article in The New York Times on Sunday about an American who went to Belgium to have his hip replaced because his insurer in the United States would not cover the procedure, hundreds of readers said they would be willing to follow that path.
Michael Shopenn’s surgery in 2007 would have cost close to $100,000 in the United States. But it cost just $13,660 — including all medicine, doctors’ fees and round-trip airfare — at a private hospital in Torhout, Belgium. The Belgian government regulates medical fees, though most doctors’ offices and hospitals are privately run.
“In the past few years, Americans are definitely more willing to go overseas and now appreciate that there is quality there, whereas seven years ago they didn’t have that perception,” said Jonathan Edelheit, the chief executive of the Medical Tourism Association, an industry group that supports and facilitates such travel.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The difference being the insurance companies and ambulance chasing lawyers.
Why don’t they have them in Belgium? Don’t doctors make mistakes there too?
A young man from one of my previous churches was on a mission trip to Guatemala in 2007. He was monkeying around with the local kids (literally jumping from tree to tree) when he misjudged and fell about 15 ft. breaking his arm just a bit above the wrist.
He went to a private hospital there (the public hospitals are scary) and had surgery to put a plate and screws in. Total cost was about $800. When he got back state-side, his normal doctor told him the same procedure would have been 10 - 15 times that amount.
Thing is - will Obamacare “fix” this problem? Of course not.
As you can see from reading the comments, patients don't usually pay MSRP, even in New York.
OK, how far below the MSRP can you renegotiate?
South Florida is flush with Brazilians and they will fly back there frequently.
Mammograms are $50, dental works is really cheap, meds, etc... It comes out cheaper to pay the air fare and have the treatment than pay here.
yeah, I’m not seeing them negotiate $65,000 away.
Thank You God! Serially, this is proof that He loves us Floridiots.
The term is “medical tourism” Costa Rica is the best for say dental surgery. A 40,000 entire teeth implant is $13,000 there and you have access to pain killers not allowed here.
Mexico is good for heart surgery. You generally spend your recovery time at his casa.
Have you ever looked closely at how much is "negotiated away" by insurance in a medical billing statement? I think the final cost of my mother's pacemaker was about 20% of what the original list price.
And what top notch Mayo Clinic doctor will volunteer to move to the Caribbean instead of staying here?
Much of the cost is due to the free hospital procedures for the illegals and uninsured.
A local friend fell and broke her wrist. The ER cost for a couple of hours, which would have been 30 minutes for the actual time it took to set the wrist, temporarily, and a couple of Xrays, was $12,000.
Two days later an Ortho Surgeon with an outpatient surgery put in a titanium plate and reset her wrist. She as in pre op for a couple of hours where nothing was done besides a little Versed to calm her down, a 30 minute surgery, one hour in post op, and her husband took her home. The iv generic Versed and an iv of Dextrose got billed at $600.
The hospital billed her for $100,000 for the same day surgery. She was in surgery as noted for 30 minutes and post op for one hour. The surgeon’s bill was 12K.
Medicare paid $1400 for her ER visit, and $6,000 for her outpatient surgery. The surgeon got paid 3K and that included her follow up in his office.
The husband noted that during his wife’s wait in the ER waiting room and for him in the family post op waiting room, he was the only one that spoke English. The post op waiting room had Hispanics, Pakistanis, and some eastern Euro language, he couldn’t place.
To stay open, hospitals have to play this over billing game to pay for the uninsured.
In order to prevent the middle class from traveling abroad to seek health care they are denied by HSS (and doing an end run around HHS and getting mo’ stuff than Holder’s peeps), I can foresee the TSA is gearing up to decide who gets to travel where and for what, how much money you can take or spend when you go, and the IRS gearing up to tax you punitively for the full cost difference of the procedure if you had it in the USA
Citizen, you must accept that at some point you have used all your lifetime share of medical resources (based on quality of life and your value to society criteria, already written) and have the duty to just die
“what top notch Mayo Clinic doctor will volunteer to move to the Caribbean instead of staying here?”
The non liberal mds, who after Obozo care will probably get paid less than a fast food manager.
They can fly down and do surgery for a week or two and fly back home and be off work until their next trip. They will probably be able to take their scrub nurses with them and their favorite anesthesiologist with them.
Also, there will be take a cruise and have surgery outside of our continental limits.
You’re kidding, right? Are you aware Puerto Rico is already luring American rich to become residents by promising them tax free treatment on their capital gains. Nice weather and beaches, too
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Puerto-Rico-creates-tax-shelters-for-wealthy-4449397.php
not a bad deal for the affluent who can live, travel and work where they choose
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