Posted on 07/06/2007 7:57:19 PM PDT by libertarianPA
I take it you are serious. Have you ever been there? There are probably a dozen hospitals in Thailand that I would take over any hospital in my native Canada but Bumgrungrad would be my first choice.
I haven’t been to Thailand in over 35 years. I stumbled upon it online while trying to figure out what to do about health insurance. After studying it, I think it’s a ‘slam dunk’ as an investment.
When you talk about costs, you must then consider - why are costs so high. Government programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and countless state programs don’t pay doctors & hospitals what it costs to treat patients. They pay them what they think they should be paid. As a result, Drs & hosptials charge patients & private insurance companies inflated prices to supplement.
On top of that, almost every state has laws that dictate what insurance companies must cover in their policies - including massage & aroma therapies, accupuncture, herbal treatments, etc. They are not allowed to let consumers pick & choose the coverages they want.
Ins companies are not fully innocent here either because they know they don’t make money off sick people. So, to make up for that, they convince healthy people that they NEED coverage - which is not guarantee to access.
It’s imperative we get away from this notion that our health is someone else’s responsibility and treat our health insurance like we treat car insurance - pay for our check-ups and tests and use insurance for the catastrophic instances.
Government in any form of regulation or control over the health industry is NOT the answer. I’d like to hear one candidate talk about the radical idea of de-regulation.
Thats quite smart. It seems on a 150,000$ operation they could pay the person 50,000$ to go out of country and pay for the surgery there, and still come out ahead:).
Dream on. I also do not like subsidizing the cost it takes to take care of the deadbeats and illegals. However, many cannot be faulted for their poor health. It is often hereditary. You’ll think differently when you come down with something. Enjoy your invincibility while you can.
Tell that to the woman (an R.N) I did a total odontectomy on just yesterday. She went to Mexico a few years ago to have extensive dental work done at the cost of $6,000. They did a crown on almost every tooth in her head. When I removed her teeth(22 of them) the crowns practically fell of just looking at them. Sad thing is that this lady was only forty and her teeth were actually in pretty solid condition (exept for the crowns which were defective and non restorable. She now has a plastic smile and is very unhappy. Not the first case I have seen from Mexico. OTOH as an oral surgeon it keeps me busy cleaning up the mess. For all those who think licensing medical types is just keeping the shop closed I will be happy to discuss some of the disasters I see. P.S. Total Odontectomy=removal of all teeth.
As more illegal aliens flood our country, the cost of medicine skyrockets. You see, insured and uninsured Americans foot the bill for them, because hospitals and doctors transfer the costs to the people who will pay. ‘
The burden is WORSE on the uninsured because they pay cash and they don’t have a lobby, like the insurance companies, to pressure the hospitals. Uninsured patients often pay 3 times what an insured patient pays for the same treatment.
Hospitals and doctors don’t have price lists for their services because they can’t play fast and loose with the billing process if they have a declared cost for a procedure.
This is what illegal immigration and the unprecedented influence of the corporatisation of medical care has done to our system. For now, it’s from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.....unless you’re part of the protected class, like illegal aliens or insurance companies.
You forgot to mention the government mandated costs for treating the 30 million illegal aliens in this country and the ‘medical tourists’ who come here from asia and the third world and inundate our county hospitals to get free medical care— SF General is one fine example.
They don’t have to be faulted. And insurance need not be so expensive. Again, if de-regulation were the order of the day, you’d see health costs drop dramatically and most of the sick would be able to afford it. The rest could be taken care of through private charity.
We will all have something significantly wrong with us at some point. That’s not the issue. What’s relevant is what system will provide the most people with the best care. We haven’t had a free market health system for 60 years. Before employers and govt started paying for it, most people got by. Were there those who couldn’t afford even basic service? Sure. But to pretend that life can ever be perfect is what gets us into economically unstable and substandard programs like Mediare & Medicaid... and probably soon, universal health care.
Welfare, for example, was to end poverty simply by redirecting money from the wealty to the poor. Despite what Dems today say, that WAS the goal. Yet poverty still exists, and worse, the program has produced millions of people who are perfectly able to work, yet choose to live off the govt.
First of all if you think that physicians are the only thing that make a hospital tick you're sadly mistaken.And second of all,have you ever been to Southeast Asia? I have. And while it could very well be that the hospital you mention is good by Southeast Asian standards what I've seen of that part of the world...alone....would make me *very* suspicious of *any* hospital located there.
Bumrungrad was the first Asian hospital accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of the organization that reviews and accredits American hospitals. Their checklist includes over 350 standards, for everything from surgical hygiene and anesthesia procedures to the systems in place to credential medical staff and nurses. JCI sends a team to re-review hospitals at 3-year intervals. Bumrungrad was first accredited in 2002 and re-accredited in 2005.
Bumrungrad was the first Asian hospital accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of the organization that reviews and accredits American hospitals. Their checklist includes over 350 standards, for everything from surgical hygiene and anesthesia procedures to the systems in place to credential medical staff and nurses. JCI sends a team to re-review hospitals at 3-year intervals. Bumrungrad was first accredited in 2002 and re-accredited in 2005.
Yes and do they have a physician here in America that can look after you if something doesn’t go right with one of their procedures?
LOL. Yeah, I've lived there almost 20 years.
would make me *very* suspicious of *any* hospital located there.
Well, when I lived in Calgary the 8 year old daughter of someone I know well died from a burst appendix after being sent home twice from the biggest hospital there with the standard 'take two Tylenols' type treatment. I'll leave you with your 'suspicions' of the top southeast Asia medical facilities, but it pretty clear they aren't based on any facts or research.
That’s what your local primary caretaker is for. Emergencies, of course, would also still be handled locally, however I see outsourcing the expensive stuff, whenever possible, to be the new trend.
You said, “Notice how this reporter doesn’t question how these people have money to travel abroad but no money for insurance?”
That’s the beauty of it. You can have major surgery and the air fare included for way less than the limit on your credit card. Now Americans even have friends in India when they want the world’s best health, eye or dental care. They are America’s Medical Solutions at www.americasmedicalsolutions.com They take care of all you need and hold your hand too. Their services are free to us because the hospitals pay them.
“Notice how this reporter doesn’t question how these people have money to travel abroad but no money for insurance? “
I also note that you probably have never priced an individual insurance policy. I can’t imagine what the cost would be if you had pre-existing coronary artery disease.
A heart bypass in Thailand is far cheaper than even a single years insurance premiums in the US with such a pre-existing condition, presuming you could be insured at all.
I also note that you do not point out the vast distorting effect of the US government Medicare/Medicaid system.
I also note that you do not point out that a self-insured individual pays far more than an insured individual, partly because of the distorting effect of government.
You also don’t question why employers should offer insurance at all, or that fewer and fewer are actually doing so because of the cost.
Foreigners come here only if they can afford it. These are folks who cannot afford it here.
Hey, it’s another rational economic decision and as such is welcomed in a free-market (which medicine in the US is decidedly NOT)
You take the risks, you reap the rewards/consequences of your decision. Sounds good to me.
Have already done it. It works!
Arrive, unjetlag, sightsee a bit, and have your operation (in the case of Singapore for example, absolutely SPOTLESS--the whold damn country is one big semiconductor "clean room" it seems) and in some places, for one fifth to one tenth the cost of medical service in the USA.
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