Cheaper Medical Services

What do you think of flying to a third world country or just another country that offers serious medical services like surgery for a significantly cheaper price?

Ex can be organ transplants like kidney, cosmetic surgery like boob or nose jobs etc.

Do you think it is safe or would you rather have such, in case youd need it someday (hopefully none of us would), on the country where your at right now or in the US or Europe or Japan or wherever?

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My mom had this nose job, she went to another country saying it was cheaper there then when she got back she had an infection and the doctor here said it was something done wrong out there. And now shes telling me to freakin do the same, im not flying to another country and get a cheap surgery done to me

It just made me think if Im being biased about this for thinking this way. Well, I know little about these things really so, why not ask for opinions ne

Did you ever watched Sicko?

What's your point? That she should try getting it in canada?

Nothing really, it was the first thought that popped in my head so I would ask.

Thanks for the info, I think Ill watch it when I get a copy. But it seems to focus more on health care policies and insurance issues. Well, I guess in a way you will end up being limited in choice by your insurance company, I wonder how many would let you get it outside the country. But thinking about it too, I believe you can just get the procedure on other countries without insurance coverage, you just pay the total amount yourself.

Thinking more about it, if youd like get a medical procedure done here wont your insurance rate spike up coz youd be under a higher risk category???

I wouldn't go to another country for an elective surgery the risk of infection or worse is too high. You can always earn more money. If it's a life and death surgery I'm not sure what I would suggest to the person. If we're talking "Mexican surgery" then you might as well wait for whatever it is to kill you instead. You will have a longer life span if you choose to wait it out.

If we are talking a subsidized surgery like Canada, England or Cuba then I suggest some sort of payment over there (assuming you can get the treatment I'm not sure about the laws on this topic). If they help you get the treatment then you can work out some sort of payment as a thank you for the help for subsidizing the cost for you to get well.

In America a lot of doctors are willing to make payment arrangements now just so they can skip all the paperwork that insurance companies put them through. Even more so if your on the system of Medicare and Medicaid then the doctor will be happy he doesn't have to file government paperwork (it's so tedious and hard that some doctors won't even accept Medicare or Medicaid insured people).

Insurance companies are in constant risk management when it comes to your policy. If the surgery is life threatening then you may see a rise in rates if you haven't paid enough to them over the lifespan of your policy to warrant the risk (i.e. to cover their costs of the surgery if you die). If you have a higher payment plan then you probably won't see much if any rise in your rates because they have made enough to cover the loss if you die during the surgery.

Better alternative. Save money up on the side and pay for the surgery with a H.S.A (Health savings account) or something. Putting your own cash (or limited amounts of the insurance company's) will safeguard you from a rate hike.

1) Had I been living in the US, my monthly medical bill would be $14,400, and that's EXCLUDING the drugs. With medicare, it goes down to around $1200, in an average facility.

Where I am now, my monthly bill rings up to around $1000, and that's in a frekishly high-end facility.

2) The best doctors in Asia are better than the average doctor in the US, but cost a fraction as much.

3) The best hospitals in Asia are better on par as the average hospital in the US, but cost a fraction as much.

In other words, you can get the best doctors in the best hospital which is better than the average doctors n an average hospital in the US at a fraction of the price. Frankly, the superiority of US health services is dwarfed by the sheer expense of it.

Not only that, in the case of cosmetic surgery, having it done in the US is just plain risky/stupid. The US allows COSMETOLOGISTS to perform procedures that wouldn't even be touched by a grizzled surgeon in other countries. I remember seeing an HBO special about boob jobs (featuring Asia Carrera) where her boobs where done by a cosmetologist. I went "Holy fuuuuuuuck, that's not even a doctor!" Cosmetology is like, a four year course; a plastic surgeon needs around 16 years of training. It was done in a clinic where she wasn't even allowed to sleep off the anesthesia. For the same amount of money she spent, she could have flown to another country, hired the best plastic surgeon in that country, have it done in the most expensive ISO compliant hospital, stayed on for a month to party, and still have change left over.

Good God man! The hell is your affliction if you don't mind me asking?

Peng, yeah some of the people that I know here have been having some problems with the clinics that they used to go to not accepting medicare and medicaid now.

Well, I guess its risky too if the medicine or anaesthetics used on you are fake or expired.

Some people have been making this proposal too, coz they compute how much they have spent on bypass surgeries vs the amount of insurance theyve paid monthly over the years and on some cases it was cheaper to have just saved the money on a bank and just paid for it when it happened. But I guess, the idea is youll never really know when it can happen. Yeah, I guess balancing the insurance and savings may be more optimal.

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Fatman, well what you say can be true for some countries; The average here being equal or near the best out there and its cheaper.

I remember someone mentioned to me that there was a US embassy warning for tourists going to a specific asian country, wont say coz of em..., it says that even the "best" hospitals there are unsanitary and not to utilize these facilities unless you really have to. What im saying is, its possible that there are some countries where in even their best sucks or is just equal to the lower level ones here.

As for the cosmetologist doing the boob job, did it involve a knife or anaesthesia? Coz I believe you can do boob augmentations by just injecting something there, but that was wayyy back then and I think thats not performed anymore nowadays coz it causes cancer.

@fiery pengiun:

End stage renal failure. I need hemodialysis three times a week, and in the US, each hemodialysis session costs $1200. Even if I were a US citizen with insurance, it would still cost a lot.



Go to an ISO compliant hospital. Since ISO is universal no matter what country you are in, a hospital ISO compliant will deliver the same level of care and competency wherever it is. The higher end hospitals in third world countries are ISO compliant, which means they deliver the same level of care as ISO compliant ones in the US.

My sympathies fatman. Nobody deserves to require dialysis to live.

The only thing that most afflicted patients are dreading is this (sorry but i cant explain properly)...

to cure affliction:

hospital = treatment...

and big concern there in the hospital is:

ineffective treatment + OMGWTF price...

but some cant be helped though....

If it is a cosmetic procedure, go to Brazil. The plastic surgery market is bigger than in California, making it possible to find a good practice at low price. The cities there are developed enough to have decent medical care too.

I, personally, don't plan on being in any state to make "where should I go" decisions. If I end up with a real illness, I am the type to shrug it off until it becomes a serious handicap. Therefore, as though it were trauma, I will be too fucked to make it to another country.

U dissin AMERICA? I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!!!!!

But seriously, how do you know that they're better?

And to answer the question which I just barely read, I wouldnt leave the country for a surgery. Just do it here in the safety of your own country.

I studied and finished medicine (did not take the boards, so I'm not an MD), and that was what my AMERICAN classmates told me. While, on average, a US hospital has much better facilities (obviously) the level of training is another matter. The more expensive asian schools produce better graduates than an equivalent/average cost US school (which was why I had american classmates in the first place; for the same amount of cash, they'd rather study abroad). My theory is that there's nothing like working with crap equipment to bring out the basics. I mean, when you're forced to make a diagnosis/treatment without having any expensive lab equipment, you really have to know your stuff. When I see medical TV dramas, I say to myself, "man, these guys are _spoiled_."

Which is why I suggest going to an ISO compliant hospital -- at the very least, the facilities comparable to the ones in the US. High tech facilities + doctors who fucking know their business + third world rate = win.

To be fair, the top notch doctors in the US are really much better. Locally, the only field that I know of that's actually better to train here is infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis and the like isn't that common in the US). The best plastic surgeons in the US will likely beat the pants out of any third world plastic surgeon. Of course, the question now is: can you afford the best doctors in the US, or are you just going to settle for an average one?

Another "to be fair" anecdote:

When I was still going to med school, a gas chromotograph was newly bought and introduced to the lab. The consultant (a 50+ year old doctor) lecturing was struggling with it. Then, an american student offered to help. It was like fucking magic -- he moved through the machine and the process like he had been using it all his life. I (and the consultant) was very fucking impressed.

The problem is, medical tourism is costly.

It's rare that you can save money with it - people here often drive to Hungaria for extensive dental work, because Hungarian dentists are known to be extremely well-trained, and 2/3rds cheaper. That, however, is rare. Often, you trade quality for money, or the travel cost nullifies the financial gain right away.



All said and done, you're better off if you compare locally and make your choice among what's available close-by to you, because even if quality does not matter to you, less stress == better chances of recovery anyways.

Seriously, thanks for all the input.

In truth, I partly asked the question coz Ive been thinking of having my nose done... and considering its on my freakin face, I think id rather go for whatever quality my money can buy not necessarily how much I can save when the time comes.

My insurance doesnt cover it and I dont intend to commit fraud, in cahoots with a doctor here, so im shouldering it 100%.

Oh, you....

Plastic surgery? And, here we are talking about diagnostic medicine, cancer treatments, and Hungarian dental work.