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Why can't you ever find out the cost of treatment in advance? Then you could shop around and force prices down.
Most of the DPC practices do this. Some surgeons (although rarer) do it as well. Like this guy in Las Vegas
The cost of traveling, difficulty finding providers, etc wouldn't have been worth it.
Correct, because you already have good insurance. Maybe your insurance doesn't have a travel benefit. Even then, it isn't the case that you have to book the ticket and find the provider on your own. Assuming your insurance covers it, or doesn't cover it, you would have a case manager who you call and they would coordinate it for you. Hospitals that cater to foreign travelers, have entire departments designed to handle travel plans and reimbursement. One phone call would basically solve that.
Plus, employer-paid surgeries abroad appear to be taking hold: According to a 2014 survey by HR consulting firm Aon Hewitt, although only 5 percent of employers currently cover those surgeries, 25 percent say they may add this in the next three to five years. Ellis' employer, with 2,500 employees, has saved nearly $11 million on health care since the company started its medical-travel program in 2010, according to benefits director Tim Isenhower.
Also, in many cases (maybe not your specific case), insurers and employers, both public and private, are not only picking up the cost for overseas care — some are even throwing in a cash bonus for the employee. It could be a good idea to discuss this possibility to achieve cost savings with HR/ Management.
The providers are almost certainly more skilled than your providers in St George, UT, by virtue of the fact that they do so many more procedures.
How to pick a doctor/facility:
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2014/medical-tourism-surgery-abroad.2.html
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2014/medical-tourism-surgery-abroad.html
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Medical-Tourism-The-Future-of-Healthcare-233414371.html
I blame Obama for that. :)
You had insurance before obama and you have insurance after, not sure what or who there is for you to 'blame'
turtledove
2015 Mar 15, 9:00am
Out of the four I went to (small sample size) only one broke it down; but it's not really an a la carte kind of thing. All of those moving parts are things that are required to ensure an optimal outcome.
Would you mind telling me the clinic? I would love to see how they're doing it. Thx!
This is why I'm a believer in non-profit Accountable Care Organizations (i.e., basically HMOs) as the way to go. Because they're integrated and it's based on a regular premium you pay for care, the ACO is motivated to keep costs down and manage care in the most efficient way possible IF THERE IS COMPETITION. This is why I'm opposed to a single-payer system because they're no competition and you'll have kingdom builders not caring about making things as efficient as possible. ACA is making small strides to push things this direction and is already causing significant stirs in healthcare payers and providers to get more streamlined...I know this, because I live it every day in my job.
Tenpoundbass
2015 Mar 15, 10:07am
You're just making a case for why if the Government is going to meddle in Healthcare then it MUST be a self contained tax funded agency, from education to administering healthcare and medicine. Otherwise they should just stay the fuck out of it.
Anycare is better than this!
elliemae
2015 Mar 15, 11:34am
I blame Obama for that. :)
You had insurance before obama and you have insurance after, not sure what or who there is for you to 'blame'
It was more a commentary on TPB's continual blaming of Obama for the rising cost of everything from his auto insurance to weed.
Tenpoundbass
2015 Mar 15, 12:38pm
It was more a commentary on TPB's continual blaming of Obama for the rising cost of everything from his auto insurance to weed.
Weed is cheap in illegal states. We get all of the weed that wasn't good enough to be sold in the dispensairies.
Apparentley there's better weed than the cheap stuff we're getting that makes us googeley eyed stupid.
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Recent surgery, Billed amount $44,000.00. Aetna approved: $2,800.00. My share: $800.00. Didn't include extras: Anesthesiologist ($500 Aetna, $250 me), Surgeon ($1,000 Aetna,$500 me), and various extras such as labs, consultants who read xrays, path reports, etc. My favorite out of pocket amount: $1.59 to an MD who read an EKG (EKG's required by hospital prior to surgery). Aetna paid them $6.00.
Without the insurance, I would have paid $44,000 - or at the very least, it would have been my negotiating point.