| Fortis Healthcare in The News |
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| A Journey Through Medical Tourism |
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Credit cards are easy to come by and used for almost everything, even using them to pay for doctor visits and buying medication. With Americans generally carrying more debt than they did 20 years ago, studies show you are four times more likely to file for bankruptcy than in the 80s. The "Consumer Bankruptcy Project" studied individuals who filed for bankruptcy in five states, including California, and found that over half blamed a major medical expense as the event that forced them into bankruptcy.
"If you are stretched very thin or just barely being able to make ends meet between car payments and mortgage and sending the kids off to school... you find that if you have, say a $5 thousand dollar medical deductible that you have to pay for, that could very well do it," explains James Spindler, USC Asst. Professor of Law and Business.
About 75% of bankruptcy filers had insurance when they began their financial slide and 56% owned their own home, these people are decidely middle-class. But according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage has increased 87% over the last six years, so for families struggling to make ends meet, some choose to join the roughly 45 million Americans without health insurance.
"People are not very good at evaluating risks, people tend to feel like, I am healthy today, I'll be healthy tomorrow. I'll just go without it for a few days. Maybe a few days turns into a few weeks or a few months and then something happens," says Spindler.
Bill Shroeder is self-employed. He felt $500 dollars a month for health insurance was too expensive, so he went without. When he decided to get it, he was declined because of elevated PSA levels, which turned out to be a sign he had prostate cancer.
"I see now, you need health insurance. You're never young forever you know?," says Bill Schroeder a medical tourist.
Prostate surgery was going to cost at least $30 thousand dollars, so faced with going broke, he decided to go overseas to Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, India, where the cost was roughly $6 thousand dollars.
"You think of a third world country, you think what kind of crazy hospital is this gonna be? But they're very nice. You have a full time nurse in your room, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," adds Schroeder.
An estimated 500 thousand Americans take their health into their owns hands by choosing medical care abroad; and the growing number stuck between uninsured and underinsured has spawned a need for companies like Planet Hospital, which arranges everything from visas and airport pickup to the choice of hospitals.
"They're offering a great service. I mean, how would I contact somebody overseas? How would I find a hospital? How would I get the right doctor?," says Schroeder.
"People could do this by themselves, but you're basically throwing darts. We've visited these doctors, we've interviewed the doctors we've checked their background, we've physically inspected the hospitals," explains Rudy Rupak, Planet Hospital
Rupak says many of the doctors used by Planet Hospital have been trained in the U.S. and are American or U.K. board certified regardless of the country in which they practice. While cosmetic surgery abroad has been popular for some time, this is not a vacation. It's traveling for surgery that protects your savings account.
"This is not something that you go and lie in the sun about; this is not something, you get a surgery and go out trekking in the wilderness. This is all about getting your surgery done, and getting a lot of rest and relaxation and recovery; and enough so that you can come back with a healed mind, body and spirit," adds Rupak.
Bill is still in India, he's had his surgery and is very pleased with his decision. He does advise anyone who chooses this option to travel with a friend. He would rather have stayed in the states, but that wasn't an option without health insurance and he wanted to live.
"Maybe this interview will help somebody. To know that, if you don't have it? And you can't afford it, you don't have to lose your home, you can go overseas," adds Schroeder.
There are some people who are not that adventurous and they'll say no, we have to get medical care here. It's the best in the world, and I don't argue with them, America does have the best in the world, if you have the money to pay for it," says Rupak.
Tips For Out Sourcing:
- Research doctors who specialize in the procedure you're interested in
- Check with the International Arm of the Chicago-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to see which overseas hospitals have been accredited Joint Commission International.com
- Talk to people who have undergone surgery overseas, both at the hospital you're interested in visiting and with the doctor you're considering.
- Medical tourism facilitators like Planet Hospital can help guide you through the process.
- Check to see how widely English is spoken by doctors and the availability of translators.
- Look into how medical malpractice is handled in the country you're visiting.
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