Americans look to Asia for affordable medical treatment

[pseudobrit]

BOMBAY, India -- Bradley Thayer, a retired apple farmer from Okanogan, Wash., traveled 7,500 miles to get his torn knee ligament fixed, and says he paid a third of what it would have cost him in a U.S. hospital. And that included air fare to Bombay.

Thayer, 60, had no health insurance when he fell and injured himself while summering in British Columbia. He says his U.S. doctors told him he would have to wait six months for surgery and pay bills totaling $35,000. So he joined a rising tide of American and European patients heading to India, Thailand and Singapore for top-class orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, infertility treatment and cardiology that come much cheaper than in the West.

It's the latest in outsourcing - Asian doctors study in the United States or Britain, acquire their skills and reputations in hospitals there, then take them back to their home countries and wait for the business to come to them.
...
He had found his American doctors stingy with information, whereas "the doctor here was very communicative. He told me what could go wrong and what he's done before," said Carson. "And it's not because I'm a foreigner; other Indians also received equal personal care."

Many doctors give their patients their home and cell-phone numbers and encourage them to call with questions.

The absence of long waiting lists also draws patients.

"I could have had total hip replacement done in the States for nothing because I have a health plan. But I found it worth it to come here. I didn't want to stand in line," said Gordon Deboo, a retired NASA research scientist.

link (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Asia%20Outsourcing%20Surgery)

"Oh, we'll be standing in line like in Canada! I won't be able to choose my own doctor! Oh, Canadians all come running across the border for the real important stuff! Oh, we have the best healthcare in the world, why would we want to screw that up?"

Here's me giving a huge middle finger to all the dumb-**** Americans who ridiculed Hilary Clinton's health care plan and John Kerry's federal insurance plan.

Up yours, assholes. Have fun watching your loved ones die.

*!bird!*

[latergator116]

I don't know if anybody here watches 60 Minutes, but they had a story about this a few weeks ago. It's amazing how nice the hospitals are. They look more like resorts or hotels than hospitals.

[Ugg]

I don't know if anybody here watches 60 Minutes, but they had a story about this a few weeks ago. It's amazing how nice the hospitals are. They look more like resorts or hotels than hospitals.

I think most Americans are probably equally amazed that "third world" countries have such nice facilities. There's a big disconnect in America where the majority are still in the 50s mindset that the US is the greatest at everything bar none.

I also raise my middle finger to all of those whose McCarthy inspired fear of social welfare has left them with no noses. Sweet dreams wherever you end up because your life here on earth will definitely be shorter than it should be.

[eva01]

And i still love the hospital i work in and would never go to another hospital unless i was forced to.

I have had multiple surgeries done at the hospital and have been to the ER at least a dozen times. I trust the doctors there with my life. I cannot say that about any other hospital in this world. I will be a doctor at this hospital and will never want to leave it.

No matter what the cost i will always go to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth MA.

I also have my Drs cell phone numbers in case i ever have questions. I also know some of my Drs email addresses.


EDIT: I really am getting sick and tired of all these people saying that everything in America is horrible.

I have never had a problem with anything in this country ever. Nor have i ever had a problem with anything in Europe either.

[maya]

I don't know if anybody here watches 60 Minutes, but they had a story about this a few weeks ago. It's amazing how nice the hospitals are. They look more like resorts or hotels than hospitals.

I viewed that story on 60 minutes. It was quiet informing indeed. :)

Seems the West has a long way to go, if they do nothing they will continue to loose money and patients to other countries and hospitals/resorts. :D

[scem0]

Eastern medicine vs. Western Medicine reminds me of Mac vs. PC. In the east, a relatively simple medicinal treatment will be prescribed, often involving only acupuncture and diet change, while in the west doctors will shove pills down your throat, perform costly surgeries on you, and do who knows what else? One of my best friends in high school had a very bad drug problem. It started with weed and ended with him attempting to stab someone on a shroom trip (I had stopped hanging out with him at this point). Doctors put him on an assortment of anti-depressants which just made him more unstable, and now, even after he has quit the narcotics, he is still flooding himself with doctor-prescribed drugs which cause him to be no fun to hang out with. Pill A fixes condition A, but causes condition B, which doctors prescribe pill B to fix, however that causes condition C... and so on. It's like security patch on top of security patch when it is the system that is flawed.

I am a big fan of Eastern medicine and I encourage everyone to see some form of Eastern medicinal facilities next time they are in need of treatment, as well as Western ones. Both have very good things to offer. :)

_Emerson

[Ugg]

And i still love the hospital i work in and would never go to another hospital unless i was forced to.

I have had multiple surgeries done at the hospital and have been to the ER at least a dozen times. I trust the doctors there with my life. I cannot say that about any other hospital in this world. I will be a doctor at this hospital and will never want to leave it.

No matter what the cost i will always go to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth MA.

I also have my Drs cell phone numbers in case i ever have questions. I also know some of my Drs email addresses.


EDIT: I really am getting sick and tired of all these people saying that everything in America is horrible.

I have never had a problem with anything in this country ever. Nor have i ever had a problem with anything in Europe either.

It's not a matter of quality but a matter of accessability. You obviously have decent insurance and that is what makes the difference.

You're focusing on the wrong aspect, yes a lot of people are saying that it is horrible but it's not without cause. We spend twice what any other country spends on health care yet ~30% aren't covered by any health insurance whatsoever. Average insurance costs for a family of four exceed $1000 a month. To me that is pretty horrible and deserving of a lot of heavy criticism.

How can you sit there and not be critical of a system that is failing faster than the levees in N.O.? If you want your job at that hospital to pay more than peanuts 5 years from now, I'd suggest you stop whinging and lose your complacency and write your legislators. The system is failing. Period.

[Lacero]

Saw the same 60 Minutes piece of outsourcing of medical treatment. This is the biggest indictment of the corrupted, greedy, profit-driven and pitiful medical care system of the wealthiest nation on Earth. I know I haven't added any useful info. Thought I'd go on a rant today. :D

[dubbz]

IAverage insurance costs for a family of four exceed $1000 a month.

:eek:

I'm speechless!

[zimv20]

I'm speechless!
my monthly premium is $408 USD. that's just for me.

[latergator116]

You're focusing on the wrong aspect, yes a lot of people are saying that it is horrible but it's not without cause. We spend twice what any other country spends on health care yet ~30% aren't covered by any health insurance whatsoever. Average insurance costs for a family of four exceed $1000 a month. To me that is pretty horrible and deserving of a lot of heavy criticism.


That's sad, really. It's amazing how much a few money-hungry pigs can get away with.

[solvs]

EDIT: I really am getting sick and tired of all these people saying that everything in America is horrible.
Not everything, but there are a lot of things that are. You must have good insurance. I have insurance, but it's not very good, even though I pay for it. That's just the way it is in my line of work. If you even have insurance, which I didn't used to. Some people don't. A lot of people don't. For a nation that's so great, why is this?

[pseudobrit]

EDIT: I really am getting sick and tired of all these people saying that everything in America is horrible.

Other than the lousy health care that's about to reach a critical breaking point, the delicate economy that's balanced on a housing bubble that's about to burst, our evaporated manufacturing capacity, massive national debt and deficit buildup and the rapid erosion of our civil liberties, this is a pretty nice place to live.

[pseudobrit]

Other than the lousy health care that's about to reach a critical breaking point, the delicate economy that's balanced on a housing bubble that's about to burst, our evaporated manufacturing capacity, massive national debt and deficit buildup and the rapid erosion of our civil liberties, this is a pretty nice place to live.

Did I mention I'm moving to Canada? Oh Hell yes.

[Lacero]

Other than the lousy health care that's about to reach a critical breaking point, the delicate economy that's balanced on a housing bubble that's about to burst, our evaporated manufacturing capacity, massive national debt and deficit buildup and the rapid erosion of our civil liberties, this is a pretty nice place to live.
Not to mention an incompetent leader who was brought to presidency by way of votes cast by the largely religious zealots deceived into believing a democracy really should be a theocracy.

[skunk]

Other than the lousy health care that's about to reach a critical breaking point, the delicate economy that's balanced on a housing bubble that's about to burst, our evaporated manufacturing capacity, massive national debt and deficit buildup and the rapid erosion of our civil liberties, this is a pretty nice place to live.Just as well the rest of the world doesn't see your country in such a negative light, isn't it?

[solvs]

Just as well the rest of the world doesn't see your country in such a negative light, isn't it?
Maybe if we stopped sucking, people wouldn't hate us as much.

[skunk]

Maybe if we stopped sucking, people wouldn't hate us as much.What a disturbing idea.

[solvs]

What a disturbing idea.
Hm, I was expecting a sex joke.

[leekohler]

And i still love the hospital i work in and would never go to another hospital unless i was forced to.

I have had multiple surgeries done at the hospital and have been to the ER at least a dozen times. I trust the doctors there with my life. I cannot say that about any other hospital in this world. I will be a doctor at this hospital and will never want to leave it.

No matter what the cost i will always go to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth MA.

I also have my Drs cell phone numbers in case i ever have questions. I also know some of my Drs email addresses.


EDIT: I really am getting sick and tired of all these people saying that everything in America is horrible.

I have never had a problem with anything in this country ever. Nor have i ever had a problem with anything in Europe either.

Then you've obviously never been without health insurance and had to go to Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Talk about third world. I had to go there a few times. I was more afraid in that hospital than I was walking down the street in a bad neighborhood.

[tristan]

In Singapore, there was a clinic right down the block. I'd go there, wait maybe a half hour, pay SGD$25 (US$15), talk to a doctor, and usually get my medicine thrown in for free. For LASIK, people were flying to Thailand, where you could get it for like US$1200 for both eyes. LASIK in Thailand might sound a little frightening, but is was by a foreign doctor who set up shop there, and higher quality then you could get in Singapore.