OT- Affordable Healthcare in the International Marketplace

[-SWS]

An alluring alternative for one uninsured American who couldn't afford a crucial heart procedure at home:

1) Stay in the U.S. and perhaps even die for lack of $175,000 to cover that life-sustaining heart surgery, or
2) Enjoy an exotic vacation abroad while having that potentially life-saving heart surgery for only $10,000, including travel expenses

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/27/in ... index.html
By Danielle Dellorto
CNN Medical Producer

Sandra Giustina is a 61-year-old uninsured American. For three years she saved her money in hopes of affording heart surgery to correct her atrial fibrillation. "They [U.S. hospitals] told me it would be about $175,000, and there was just no way could I come up with that," Giustina said.

So, with a little digging online, she found several high quality hospitals vying for her business, at a fraction of the U.S. cost. Within a month, she was on a plane from her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, to New Delhi, India. Surgeons at Max Hospital fixed her heart for "under $10,000 total, including travel."

"A couple of days after her heart surgery, Sandra
Giustina and her husband, Dino, visited the Taj Mahal"
(photo and caption taken from above CNN article)

[OutaSync]

I've heard that is true for major dental procedures, too.

[Fredman]

Hey why not. Telus, a Telecommunication company in Canada is outsourcing their call centers to India and the Philippines. Obviously while India is considered a have not nation, they certainly have qualified medical personnel.

Mind you a Telecommunication business is a not an apple to apple comparison in terms of risk - life and death. But given her alternative, what did she have to lose? Looks like you can have a bit of a vacation too!

Maybe a good idea for some of those small touristy Caribbean Islands too!

[-SWS]

I thought the above was a good idea as well---considering the alternative. Prior to this article I had heard about shopping internationally for surgery, but didn't realize dental procedures were also being done that way. If I ever find myself with no health insurance and a hefty surgery bill coming down the pike, I'll definitely shop the international market.

Better frugal, flexible, healthy, but especially alive than the alternative...



(note to self: when in New Delhi be sure to try the new corned beef or new pastrami... )

[julia.sadie]

Hey why not. Telus, a Telecommunication company in Canada is outsourcing their call centers to India and the Philippines. Obviously while India is considered a have not nation, they certainly have qualified medical personnel.

I agree; I think that as long as the employees in the outsourcing companies are just as competent, I see no problem opting for outsourcing services or, in this case, medical tourism.

[gulfpearl]

Some other countries that have excellent medical tourism are Singapore & Thailand.

[roster]

Nice turnaround! Glad to see positive posts about free trade, unregulated markets and paying your own way! There is still hope for our country!

Know also that India, with a population of over one billion, has a well-educated English-speaking middle class of nearly 350 million people - greater than the entire population of the U.S.

-SWS, Try that corned beef or pastrami, but if you are hungry have a backup plan. On a long trip in India, I became brave enough one Sunday night to find a very expensive restaurant that served steak. That was the only meal I did not enjoy and could not finish. I could not imagine what that cow had been raised on.

[DreamStalker]

Sure. It is fantastic for those who can afford out-of-pocket healthcare costs, especially third-world costs.

However:

Nearly one million Indians die every year due to inadequate healthcare facilities and 700 million people have no access to specialist care at all.

700 M is more than double US population.

In the mid-1990s, health spending in India amounted to 6% of GDP, one of the highest levels among developing nations.

Still better than 13 to 14% of GDP for US healthcare costs in the mid-90's.

75% of expenditure on healthcare in India is still being met by ‘out-of-pocket’ and only 10% of the Indian population today has health insurance coverage.

Compared to 50% in US + another 35% underinsured in US = 85% of Americans with some form of insurance.
Furthermore:

Due to "a dishonest and inefficient system" that sometimes inflates bills to ten times the actual cost, even insured US patients can be billed more than the real cost of their care.

Could that be due to a for-profit health insurance system?

The only hope is to eliminate profiteering off of sick misfortunate people.

[Slinky]

AND despite all the advances in medical techonology I got BETTER HEALTH CARE in 1960 than I do now!

The technology has improved but the practitioners have NOT, nor has their education, except the cost.

[DreamStalker]

AND despite all the advances in medical techonology I got BETTER HEALTH CARE in 1960 than I do now!

The technology has improved but the practitioners have NOT, nor has their education, except the cost.

I'm not old enough to compare ... but I agree.

[roster]

AND despite all the advances in medical techonology I got BETTER HEALTH CARE in 1960 than I do now!

The technology has improved but the practitioners have NOT, nor has their education, except the cost.

Are you talking about health care or medical care?

[Slinky]

When did HMOs come into vogue or popularity?

When did Medicare come into being?

I was born in 1942. I don't know about my health care insurance issue as a child but I am one of the blessed who has never been w/o health care insurance since a teenager. BC/BS of Michigan has always been my insurance or insurance carrier except for a short couple of years when we had employer provided Travelers w/exact coverage as our previous and then succeeding BC/BS.

I don't know where you found that chart, DreamStalker, but THANK YOU SO MUCH for providing it!!!!

[SleepyBobR]

The usual surgical procedure to correct A-fib is a catheter ablation. I simply cannot imagine how this could cost $175K! Unbelievable. I would expect a bill like that for a heart transplant. Maybe. But not an ablation. At those prices, many more Americans will be traveling to India for health care before long.
Or maybe just to Canada.
Good grief.

[PST]

The usual surgical procedure to correct A-fib is a catheter ablation. I simply cannot imagine how this could cost $175K! Unbelievable. I would expect a bill like that for a heart transplant. Maybe. But not an ablation. At those prices, many more Americans will be traveling to India for health care before long.
Or maybe just to Canada.
Good grief.

SleepyBobR is right. There is something very fishy about that story. The photograph shows the patient visiting the Taj Mahal a "couple of days" after surgery. That just isn't plausible for open heart surgery, but it is plausible for catheter ablation. That is a technique, usually done on an outpatient basis, where a catheter is inserted at a convenient location and advanced through the veins to the heart, and radiofrequency energy is used to burn scars that isolate and block the electrical signals that cause fibrilation. The Cleveland Clinic says catheter ablation costs between $17,000 and $21,000 initially (http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/9/543.full), which is plenty expensive. I cannot help but think CNN has got something wrong in this case, and that $175,000 must be the estimated cost of a different procedure.

[roster]

.... There is something very fishy about that story. The photograph shows the patient visiting the Taj Mahal a "couple of days" after surgery. ....

Fishy, yes. Does anyone else think the Taj in the background of the photo looks like a mural? Is that a bottle of Dasani water in the lady's hand? India does not allow imports of bottled water.

Also, the Taj is not local to Dehli as inferred in the article. It is about 150 miles by car and can be a difficult ride. Most tourists take a flight to Agra. Although for infrequent or one-time visitors, traveling by car can be fascinating because of the villages you pass through and the fellow travelers on foot and in camel carts and ox carts.