My Overseas Doctor | Affordable Healthcare Abroad

Joe Mitchell always assumed his chronic leg pain was due to tight muscles, but as the pain became more intense in recent years, his physicians uncovered the culprit: an arthritic hip. He explored treatment options, and was dismayed to learn that he was not an immediate candidate for the main treatment for arthritic hips: hip replacement surgery.
“Hip replacements are meant to last 10 to 20 years at the maximum. After that, the revision surgeries are not as successful, so surgeons shy away from doing total hip replacements on people younger than 60,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell is not alone. Like the 54-year-old attorney, who always led a fit and active lifestyle, hundreds of thousands of active baby boomers are now dealing with worn-out joints - and the pain - at a much earlier age than their more sedentary parents. Many, like Mitchell, are considered too young for total hip replacements, face years of painful waiting until they “come of age,” and often balk at the prospect of limiting their activity level once the artificial joint is in place.

But that’s beginning to change, thanks to a procedure called hip resurfacing, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last May.

You may continue reading the rest of the article here, from News-Medical.net, Australia.

Global competition is an emerging trend in the health care industry as a growing number of high-quality health care facilities in developing countries have begun catering to so-called “medical tourists” or “medical travelers” from other countries. Uninsured patients and those from countries where care is rationed by waiting are also attracted to high-quality health care that is up to 80 percent less expensive than the cost of care in the United States….

For example:

• Heart surgery can easily cost more than $50,000 in the United States.
• Yet the same surgery might only cost $10,000 in India, $12,000 in Thailand or $20,000 in Singapore.

Read the rest of the article here. From the National Center of Policy Analysis, Texas.

There are an estimated 61 million Americans who are uninsured or considered “under-insured”, and this number is likely to soar in coming years. Health care costs in the USA continue to rise beyond the reach of the average American - mainly due to astronomical malpractice premiums that doctors here in the U.S. are forced to carry, high staff wages etc, and there is no end in sight.

Overseas care represents an affordable alternative worthy of your consideration. Click here for an example of the incredible savings you can achieve overseas.

Tens of thousands of Americans are traveling abroad to places like Brazil, Thailand, India, Singapore, etc to undergo surgery and medical procedures that are a fraction of the cost here in the United States. Some of these procedures are often available in developing countries years before the FDA approval in the U.S. (e.g. hip resurfacing, an alternative to hip replacement; shots for macular degeneration; non-invasive heart surgery, etc).

These overseas doctors are often American or British trained and the hospitals they operate in are internationally accredited - clean, well equipped, even luxurious by American standards. An increasing number of these hospitals have entire wings set up just to cater to international patients.

Thanks to lower labor, lower operating costs and lower malpractice premiums that overseas doctors have to carry - Americans seeking treatment overseas can expect to realize savings (including the cost of the medical procedure, airfare and accommodation) of anywhere from 30% to 85% on comparable medical procedures here in the United States!

Going abroad might be the only way to afford surgery or dental work for:

• those without health insurance
• those whose policies do not cover the procedures they need
• those with health insurance but who cannot afford the deductibles and co-payments
• those who do not want to jeopardize their financial situation

The low cost of treatment overseas often allows an American patient the opportunity to receive medical care in an exotic location, enjoy a vacation, recover in a four or five-star resort, and return home having spent considerably less than what the procedure would have cost in the United States. Read the rest »