Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
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Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#2You would think more Americans would fly to India to get expensive medical procedures done. Or are there other issues that need to be overcome to do this?
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#3As an American. this makes me sad. Just sick to my stomach. It's just greed.
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#4You would think more Americans would fly to India to get expensive medical procedures done. Or are there other issues that need to be overcome to do this?
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#5You would think more Americans would fly to India to get expensive medical procedures done. Or are there other issues that need to be overcome to do this?
Some insurance companies even throw in a cash incentive.
"Need a heart bypass? We'll give you $10k and waive the co-pay if you do it in India"
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#6I found it fascinating how this goes way beyond wage differences -- it's a serious focus on fiscal efficiency. The entrepreneur behind this has opened 21 new hospitals in India focused on bringing more affordable care:
"...he has cut the price of artery-clearing coronary bypass surgery to 95,000 rupees ($1,583), half of what it was 20 years ago, and wants to get the price down to $800 within a decade."
This leaves me wondering: Where is the innovation toward affordable care here in the USA?
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#7You would think more Americans would fly to India to get expensive medical procedures done. Or are there other issues that need to be overcome to do this?
A few things:
1. People don't know about it.
2. Are the outcomes comparable?
3. Legal protection - you will have hard time suing Indian specialist in India and there won't be much damages to extract anyway.
4. Age? A good chunk of people that need that types of surgeries are well covered by Medicare.
5. You also need plane tickets, recovery time and at least one companion - so you may look at a lot higher total cost.
6. Plain old fear/ racism.
And the moment it becomes common there will be the full media smear campaign, scaremongering etc
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#8I found it fascinating how this goes way beyond wage differences -- it's a serious focus on fiscal efficiency. The entrepreneur behind this has opened 21 new hospitals in India focused on bringing more affordable care: "...he has cut the price of artery-clearing coronary bypass surgery to 95,000 rupees ($1,583), half of what it was 20 years ago, and wants to get the price down to $800 within a decade." This leaves me…
What incentive is there in the USA to reduce healthcare costs? The system is totally corrupt.
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#9The first supposed fact thrown around in the medical costs argument like this is, "Well in India their cost of living is lower, so they charge considerably less, yadda yadda..." but it's obvious the price difference goes way beyond any cost of living gap. That's over $100,000 in price difference, while it is true the cost of living (salary, prices of every day items) in India is considerably less than that of the US, the gap certainly isn't 100k+
It's comparisons like these that really make you sick to your stomach. You don't see this kind of innovation in the American health system because it has been engineered with greed in mind right from the start. The lobbyist super groups, hospitals being paid kickbacks for using an exclusive medical equipment provider, the money hungry mentality of US medical corporations is more than obvious.
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, if not higher than that of your own country, regardless of cost of living differences and other nation specific costs that's absolutely ridiculous. By the sounds of it, India is going to be the new global superpower if more and more people fly there to pay for medical treatment it benefits their economy in the end (given how a substantial chunk of the population is below the poverty line, this might not be such a bad thing).
A doctor trained in India is no less qualified than a doctor trained in the US. So expertise or training is no excuse either. In-fact I've found Indian trained specialists to be more thorough, careful, understanding and compassionate in comparison to that of Australian trained medical professionals (I'm from Australia). When was the last time you saw or heard of a poor American medical specialist or surgeon?
The question is: Will America ever change their ways? Or will quality medical care only be reserved for those who can afford decent medical insurance or have jobs that provide fair medical benefits?
One thing is for certain, this is submission is going to garner a lot of responses from both sides of the fence if past submissions along these lines are anything to go by.
Re: Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
#10What is the survival rate in India after that procedure, comparing to the US?
My colleague _visited_ India and returned with a stomach flu, spent a week in a hospital.