Holistic-Personal-Development.com

There is a health care crisis going on in the United States, and I, like millions of others, are being crushed by it. It’s caused by the high cost of medical care and health insurance. To put this into perspective, over the last five years, inflation increased at a rate of under 3% per year. The cost of health care insurance has increased by 12% per year.

My situation is better than most but it is not ideal. My wife and I, both self-employed, have a health insurance policy. But to keep the cost of the policy affordable ($300 per month is still costly) we elected a plan with a $10,000 deductible. This policy includes a free physical exam each year up to $300. That’s good. But last week my doctor recommended a test that would cost me several thousand dollars. That’s not so good because my insurance won’t cover it. What do I do? What would you do?

If you think I am an exception to the rule, think again. Here are some recent statistics from the United States government:

The latest government data shows that in the year 2005 that 47 million Americans were without health insurance – 16 percent of the population.

The rate has been rising around 1.3 million people per year.

And even if a person works for a company that provides insurance, the employee still might not be able to pay his or her share of the premium. Employee costs of insurance premiums has increased by 143 percent between the years 2000 and 2006.

One million full time workers lost their health insurance in 2005.

Many companies can no longer afford to provide the premiums. It is estimated that 266,000 companies dropped health care coverage for their employees.

Thirty-three percent of companies in the United States did not offer health insurance in 2005.

Eight out of 10 uninsured people now come from working families.

With the cost of medical care without insurance prohibitively expensive, more and more people are going overseas for medical treatment. It’s called medical tourism. In India and Thailand, luxury hospital rooms exist that rival luxury hotels, complete with WiFi and jacuzzi. The cost is a fraction what what a room with lesser amenities would cost in the United States. Medical tourism is big in other countries as well. Other countries that are big in this include Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica.

I read today of a man in Louisiana, without health insurance, who couldn’t afford the $100,000 price tag of open heart surgery. He was getting so weak he couldn’t even walk. He was resigned to dying. Then he read in Business Week magazine about a leading hospital in Thailand that has he reputation of leading the world in foreign patients because of its Western trained doctors, state of the art facilities, and third world prices. He contacted them and they quoted him a price of $12,000. He flew to Bangkok, had the surgery, and is now feeling great.

The government of India now estimates that 150,000 foreigners per year travel to India for medical treatment. And the figure is climbing 10% per year. The cost of medical care in India is approximately between 10% and 15% of what it is in the United States. What would be a $30,000 surgical procedure in the U.S. would run $3,000 to $4,500 in India, depending on the city. Pune, a city of over a million people, about 120 miles from Bombay, is much less expensive than Bombay. I visited a friend in one of the Pune hospitals a few years ago and it provided great service, both attentive and professional, and a large and affordable private room.

My wife and I have friends in the United States who have all their medical and dental work performed in India because they cannot afford the insurance or the medical costs in the U.S. It works for them quite nicely because they travel there regularly.

For myself, if I am facing a medical procedure that is going to cost me $10,000, I would rather have it done in India for $1,000 to $2,000. Even after the airfare, I come out way ahead. Plus I get to visit one of my favorite countries and accumulate 20,000 frequent flier miles. I’d make an adventure out of it. Post-op care would be on the beaches of Goa. Luxury and relaxation at very affordable prices.

Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok

The Bumrungrad website states:
All Bumrungrad physicians are fully licensed by the Thai Medical Council to practice their specialty in Thailand. In addition, many are Board Certified in their specialty in the US, Australia, or Europe. Bumrungrad’s credentialing process requires a formal review of each doctor’s qualifications and track record by the Credentials and Bylaws Committee and the Hospital’s Medical Executive Committee. These reviews take place before a doctor is appointed to the medical staff by the Hospital’s Board of Governors and then again every three years thereafter.

My wife and I have a friend who now lives in Thailand. We had dinner with him in Washington, DC last summer on his last trip back to the West and he raved about the health care in Thailand. He should know. He had heart surgery there and he also was treated from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He went on and on about how the cost is so low.

There are services here in the United States that provide the legwork coordinating international medical treatment. One that looks to be a good service is planethospital.com. Their website is informative. The site lists the countries where they offer their services. Currently they list Belgium, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Singapore and Thailand. You can select one of these countries, read detailed information about the hospitals they work with, and with each hospital, read about the medical background of all the different surgeons, grouped by their specialty. They even put a US or British flag in front of the name of those surgeons trained in the US or Britain.

Another service you will want to at least look at is medicaldiscounts.com. They post on their site a comprehensive international surgical procedure price list. For instance, you might find that you no longer have to be anxious about a $100,000 expense for a heart valve replacement. The cost is only $9,500.

I know it’s not always going to be possible to get to India or Thailand for medical treatment, but it’s an option that some people don’t even know exists. And not only is the option easy on the checkbook, relatively speaking, but you also get to experience another culture and have an adventure.

Like the man from Louisiana with a heart condition, reading about an affordable surgical option overseas can mean the difference between life and death.

What am I going to do about my test that I mentioned earlier? I’ll take care of it the next time I’m in India. Or Thailand. It doesn’t make a difference. I love both countries and the quality of care is excellent in both.

Anyway, if you’re like me and feelinng squeezed by the health care crisis, you might want to keep your passport up to date.