Re:Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
by deepGem on Monday July 29, 2013 @09:44AM
(#6121041)
"I think when your medical system becomes so expensive it's cheaper for people to fly out of the country, pay for accommodation and even some spending money to get the same level of care" - I wonder why this not happened on a large scale yet. It seems so simple - fly out stay for 10 days and get the surgery done, visit some exotic places such as the Taj Mahal and come back. Almost heart surgeries are planned, so planning is also not a concern. These days booking a flight in and out is a non-issue as is the issue of staying in a hotel. What's stopping people from adopting this on a large scale ?
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Re:Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
by jjoonathan on Monday July 29, 2013 @10:42AM
(#6121359)
Either it's illegal (the government's fault) or hospitals deal with insurers on a bundle basis and they aren't willing to cut out their most profitable procedures (the market's fault). Depends on who you ask, I'm sure :)
Liability might be a problem, but it only accounts for 2% of medical expenditures in the US, so I wouldn't expect it to be insurmountably difficult to insure the procedures to "US standards."
Re:Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
by apalmer on Monday July 29, 2013 @01:53PM
(#6122687)
This is being done on a large scale, health tourism is a real thing. I think probably you dont realize how widespread this phenomenon is, and conversely I think more than a 'large scale' you are really asking, why isn't virtually everyone doing this?