Medical Tourism, a growing trend

spinningmagnets

spinningmagnets

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Most people know what a deductable is from their car insurance. Per person, per year, there are medical deductables that have to be paid up before the insurance kicks in to pay the rest. I am hearing amounts of $5,000 being tossed around, and recently, a friend took a vacation to Thailand.

He had been told he needs about $13,000 in dental work back home in the USA, and thought that while on vacation, he might get "some" of that work done there. He found a very nice clinic and was shocked to find he could get the whole thing for $1,300 (not including hotel and airfare). There is always risk, but I thought I would bring this up, because it is going to be a topic of discussion over the next couple years.

Here's a survey, might be biased, I don't know..."best" is vague. If they take ads, they might be shills...
http://internationalliving.com/2013/04/health-care-survey-the-best-havens-for-quality-care-overseas/

1. Costa rica
2. Malaysia
3. Panama
4. France
5. Uruguay
6. Mexico
7. Ecuador

Cost saving according to "Patients Beyond Borders"
http://www.patientsbeyondborders.com/medical-tourism-statistics-facts

25-40% Brazil
40-65% Costa Rica
65-90% India
65-80% Malaysia
40-65% Mexico
30-45% Singapore
50-70% Thailand


Top Destinations by volume:
http://www.medicaltourismresourceguide.com/medical-tourism-in-2013

India______Home to world-class orthopedic and cardiac surgeons. $2.3 Billion annually.
Mexico____Mexico is famous for inexpensive weight loss surgeries and cosmetic surgeries.
Singapore__Their healthcare system is ranked very highly, and offers cancer and stem cell treatments.
Barbados__Well-known fertility clinic is home in the Caribbean.
Thailand___Thailand attracts 30,000 Americans each year for a whole host of procedures and surgeries.
Brazil______Home to top cosmetic surgeons in the World.
Israel______Israel is known for IVF specialists, as well as other procedures.
S. Korea____Home to cosmetic surgeons, cancer and spinal treatments.
 
Pretty interesting area.

I think there may be real value in this. Value in this case = money saved on a medical procedure delivered with equal quality of outcome.

Doctors, for the most part, are essentially highly trained technicians. (I don't mean that pejoratively.) And they gain proficiency by repeatedly performing a limited set of procedures, so they truly know the ropes for those procedures -- dental, cosmetic, oncology, cardiac, you name it.

And there is little (no?) reason to believe that US has a lock on quality of doctor training.

What we *do* have is a disastrous legal tort system that creates huge liability for doctors, such that they have to carry huge insurance premiums, which in turn drives high prices.

Augment that with a disastrous insurance system that drives huge overheads for the medical industry, and... we end up with crazy high consumer prices.

Very possible that high quality outcomes can be delivered in other countries at radically lower costs.

Tangential, but interesting. 20 years ago I was on a flight from Dallas to Korea, travel related to an IT project. In the seats behind me were two women, maybe 35-45, mothers of families. They were flying to Korea (for a gal's night out really) but primary rationale was to do "back to school" shopping for their families. Talked with them a bit. Turned out it essentially cheaper for them to fly to Korea and shop for clothes / backpacks / shoes / yadda yadda than to shop locally in Dallas (which, at least when I was there, was one of the most cost competitive areas in the US.) Even with air fare figured in. So I'm not a total dope, I listened to them and bought some clothes while I was there. Killer bargains.

So yeah, think about getting on a plane to save. (On anything but batteries, unfortunately.)
 
Here on the Mexican border, this is not a growing trend. Rather, it's one that had a hiatus for a while till the bullets stopped flying so much. A visit to Juarez two or three years ago was going to result in surgery, or worse.

All the working poor, and even some rich people will go to the dentist in Juarez, or make regular runs to other border cities to visit a pharmacy cheaper. People would self prescribe antibiotics, and just go get some in Palomas. The Viagra run to Palomas was also common.

In some cases, the quality of the work done by the cheap dentist was horrendous. Fillings often didn't last, or teeth that needed crowns would be filled anyway. But most of the people that went for dentures swear that they are just as good as 5x more costly US ones.

So what I'm saying, is just like here in the good ol USA, you still have the problem of finding the good doc, or the good dentist to go to. One of those bad Juarez dentists was just busted here on the US side, because he set up his shitty practice over here in his living room. With all the shooting, his business tanked. So he just crossed over, and resumed ruining peoples mouths for cheap, without a US license to practice. His tools were not sterilized between patients, etc. Another case from years ago, a US citizen beautician started doing plastic surgery. She would get some silicone from the hardware store, and inject it into your crows feet or lips. Her prices were quite affordable compared to a real doctor. :shock: Her clientele, people who likely can't even read.

You just gotta be sure the person who works on your body is legit. There definitely are good doctors and dentists in other countries. But the one with the cheapest prices of all, who's office is a block from the border, might not be the best one to choose. Nor the one who offers mexico prices, in his living room in the US. You want certain things, like not tasting the aids of the previous patient.
 
It's been going on for over a decade that I know of. It's really popular for the ladies, because they can have cosmetic surgery done, get pampered during recovery while out of the country so friends can't see them during the sometimes ugly recovery phase, and save money.

If anyone needs a plastic surgeon let me know, because I'm close with one of the top guys in the Americas. Everyone I've sent to him has been very happy, and many come back for something else.
 
That's the key, going someplace recommended for quality work, then still getting a good price. Not the guy set up right on the border with the cheapest price. I think maybe J town just tended to attract the guys that got ran out of other Mexican towns.
 
I went to Bangkok 6 years ago for what was "quoted" to me (here in America) for $43,000 of necessary dental work. (I screwed up as a young man)

Two trips, 3 weeks in Bangkok, excellent dental care and treatment = $8,500 with airfare & hotel.

I'll never go to a US dentist again.
 
Better result than Nogales I bet.
 
There was a TV show on how Dentistry is an "art-form", there was a hidden camera exclusive of like 100 dentists of one patient, that patient went around to these 100 dentists and the majority of the dentists never recommended what was necessary.....a simple cleaning. There was a dentist in Richmond that took the same hidden camera exclusive and he was yet again the highest charged dentist.
 
I went to Mexico for some dental work after doing a lot of research and getting recommendations.

Turns out, seems like everyone I talked to either had dental work done in Mexico or knew someone that did. The research I had done pointed out that people were traveling to San Diego just to have dental work done in Mexico. All the way from Canada even. Vacation in San Diego, get the dental work done in Mexico at a fraction of the cost elsewhere.

I was looking at about $4,500.00 in work on two teeth here in San Diego. I shopped around but could not find any bargains here. That's when I decided to check into Tijuana and see what gives. I found a friend that recommended a place so I went there. Turns out, they were all set up for US citizens. I had them take a look at what had to be done and decided to let these dentist do the work.

Well, I was blown away on how efficient they were. No extra appointments, they just did the work right then and there. Set me up for the appointment for the crowns and was out of there in a couple of hours.

Cost me $1,200.00 for what would of cost me $4,500.00 in the US. Not only that, the work came with a two year guarantee, something that I never heard of from a US dentist.

It's been almost two years since I had the work done, who knows how long the repairs will last. I've had crappy work done in the US, so I don't think going across borders is any indication of quality.
 
You can find places in North America that will do dentistry for free. You might have to jump through some hoops, but you can get teeth pulled, fillings, caps, cleaning, etc. Mustard Seed is one street level organization that does it.
 
I tried the free route a couple of times.

In each case your the guinea pig. One time it was though a dental school, the other time it was under the coverage of USPS insurance. I don't remember much about the first time, as I was a kid, the second time they butchered me. The dentist couldn't do a simple filling without cutting a gash in my tongue. Had to go back to my old dentist and pay to have the filling fixed.
 
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