Need A Hip Replacement: Come To Belgium

[freegeeks]

As a Belgian, this article in the New York times caught my eye. Health care costs in the US are becoming such an issue that medical tourism is becoming more and more a viable option. Maybe I should start a medical tourism business catering to the US baby boom generation. Come to Belgium for a new hip, free Belgian beer during your stay

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html

 

[Doppel]

What a bullshit reason his insurance would not cover it.

I would also NOT want to go to a third world country for anything like this. Europe or Japan sound good to me or Canada.

I am still quite young but already have some issues and I fully expect that if I don't get hit by a bus I will get a joint replacement in a few decades, that is unless stem cells finally find us a way to regen cartilage. We are currently living in an amazing time for medical care. Literally for ALL of human history save the past few decades if you had fucked up joints you had NO recourse at all. Just too damn bad for you. It is just a profound delight what orthopedic medicine is doing to advance the quality of life for millions of people.

 

[Strk]

Yeah, it's a pretty big joke on how bad our healthcare system is in the US. And Obamacare does nothing about the biggest problem: costs. The costs keep going up and coverage keeps getting worse. Increased transparency? Nope! I forget, was it Time that just had the article on how big of a joke our pricing system is?

 

[Londo_Jowo]

I have three coworkers that has had joint replacements (2 knee and 1 hip) in the past 6 months, none had to pay more than $2,000 as this is the max out of pocket for our company's PPO insurance plan. All also received their full pay (short term disability) during their 2-3 month recovery/rehabilitation.

 

[unokitty]

Factors that have led to the increasing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries. The avoidance of waiting times is the leading factor for medical tourism from the UK, whereas in the US, the main reason is cheaper prices abroad.

Many surgery procedures performed in medical tourism destinations cost a fraction of the price they do in the First World. For example a liver transplant that costs $300,000 USD in America costs about $91,000 USD in Taiwan.[5] A large draw to medical travel is convenience and speed. Countries that operate public health-care systems are often so taxed that it can take considerable time to get non-urgent medical care. Using Canada as an example, an estimated 782,936 Canadians spent time on medical waiting lists in 2005, waiting an average of 9.4 weeks.[6] Canada has set waiting-time benchmarks, e. g. 26 weeks for a hip replacement and 16 weeks for cataract surgery, for non-urgent medical procedures.

Medical tourists come from a variety of locations including Europe, the Middle East, Japan, the United States, and Canada. Factors that drive demand for medical services abroad in First World countries include: large populations, comparatively high wealth, the high expense of health care or lack of health care options locally, and increasingly high expectations of their populations with respect to health care.

Medical Tourism

In the US, Health Care is rapidly segmenting. One system for people with money. One system for everyone else.

Medical tourism seems like a good way for anyone in the middle to improve their chances of being treated well. (IMHO)

There is a reason that Congress passed Obama Care for the masses. And there is a reason that the exempted themselves from it.

Uno

 

[freegeeks]

I have three coworkers that has had joint replacements (2 knee and 1 hip) in the past 6 months, none had to pay more than $2,000 as this is the max out of pocket for our company's PPO insurance plan. All also received their full pay (short term disability) during their 2-3 month recovery/rehabilitation.

the problem is that the guy from the article had insurance but they denied coverage of the procedure so his only option was to get the operation done out of his own pocket. The operation was done in a private for profit Belgian hospital for 1/5 of the price quoted in a US hospital

 

[nehalem256]

Yeah, it's a pretty big joke on how bad our healthcare system is in the US. And Obamacare does nothing about the biggest problem: costs. The costs keep going up and coverage keeps getting worse. Increased transparency? Nope! I forget, was it Time that just had the article on how big of a joke our pricing system is?

Neither side has any interest in doing anything about the costs.

Republicans: Too busy circle-jerking about the free market. Any cost increases can be blamed on lack of a free market.

Democrats: If costs actually went down how would they go about bringing their socialist utopia? Any cost increases can be blamed on lack of socialized medicine

 

[Slew Foot]

The drug companies charge more for the implant itself in the us than the entire cost of care in belgium.

 

[Svnla]

What a bullshit reason his insurance would not cover it.

I would also NOT want to go to a third world country for anything like this. Europe or Japan sound good to me or Canada.

I am still quite young but already have some issues and I fully expect that if I don't get hit by a bus I will get a joint replacement in a few decades, that is unless stem cells finally find us a way to regen cartilage. We are currently living in an amazing time for medical care. Literally for ALL of human history save the past few decades if you had fucked up joints you had NO recourse at all. Just too damn bad for you. It is just a profound delight what orthopedic medicine is doing to advance the quality of life for millions of people.

I don't know about major internal operations (heart, hip, knee, etc.) but I did have my teeth worked on (totally clean up and 1 implant) while I was in Asia (developing countries) and I am happy with the result. It had been almost 2 years and so far, so good.

 

[PokerGuy]

I certainly would not trust my health/safety/body to some crappy third world country, but Belgium or anywhere in western europe would be fine.

 

[Broheim]

the libertarian party here recently proposed a change to the public healthcare system that would allow you to travel to any European nation and receive medical procedures and the public healthcare system would cover the cost of medical expenses instead of you having to waiting around here in Denmark. You can already switch between public and private hospitals for treatment here.