5 ms·

Is there a Walmart for medical procedures? A jiffy-lube?

dakial1 6y ago
Come to Brazil. The best Brazilian hospital (Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo) charges 1.7k USD for a C section (my son was born recently there), while the lowest I've found in that site is 2.6K USD (don't know about the quality) and median seems to be 8K USD. I bet the other procedures have similar price differences. You can pay for the trip, get the best care (it is a really good, international level, hospital) and still have some loney left.
- pqdbr 6y ago
  And what about an MRI? This website lists rates around 2k USD, while in Brazil you can get one (in high-end modern hospitals in São Paulo) for around R$ 600 (== $120).
  - xtracto 6y ago
    MRI in Mexico cost ~$200 USD ( https://www.chopo.com.mx/zapopan/estudios/resonancia-magnetica https://www.chopo.com.mx/zapopan/estudios/resonancia-magneti... ) and is way closer than Brazil. There are laboratories even at walking distance of the USA haha ( https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:4&tbm=lcl&q=laboratorio+chopo+tijuana https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:4&tbm=lcl&q=lab... )
    - dakial1 6y ago
      Might be interesting to check how much "Medical Tourism" happens between US and other countries. This might be an interesting industry to get into. If I remember well there was a health insurance company that was promoting Medical Tourism for their clients
      - xtracto 6y ago
        That was my thought. If I had the money, I would setup one or two clinics in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Juarez or Tijuana, fill it with really good, English speaking health professionals and promote the heck out of it in the USA for medical tourism.
BurningFrog 6y ago
Closest thing is Surgery Center of Oklahoma, which does not deal with insurance and has an easily accessible public price list on the web site. https://surgerycenterok.com/about/ https://surgerycenterok.com/about/
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  This Econtalk interview with the founder is very enlightening: https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-care/ https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-c...
hedora 6y ago
You mean Walmart Health? https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/walmart-health.html https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/walmart-... :-)
swebs 6y ago
Yes, CVS MinuteClinic.

Come to Brazil. The best Brazilian hospital (Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo) charges 1.7k USD for a C section (my son was born recently there), while the lowest I've found in that site is 2.6K USD (don't know about the quality) and median seems to be 8K USD. I bet the other procedures have similar price differences. You can pay for the trip, get the best care (it is a really good, international level, hospital) and still have some loney left.

pqdbr 6y ago
And what about an MRI? This website lists rates around 2k USD, while in Brazil you can get one (in high-end modern hospitals in São Paulo) for around R$ 600 (== $120).
- xtracto 6y ago
  MRI in Mexico cost ~$200 USD ( https://www.chopo.com.mx/zapopan/estudios/resonancia-magnetica https://www.chopo.com.mx/zapopan/estudios/resonancia-magneti... ) and is way closer than Brazil. There are laboratories even at walking distance of the USA haha ( https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:4&tbm=lcl&q=laboratorio+chopo+tijuana https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:4&tbm=lcl&q=lab... )
  - dakial1 6y ago
    Might be interesting to check how much "Medical Tourism" happens between US and other countries. This might be an interesting industry to get into. If I remember well there was a health insurance company that was promoting Medical Tourism for their clients
    - xtracto 6y ago
      That was my thought. If I had the money, I would setup one or two clinics in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Juarez or Tijuana, fill it with really good, English speaking health professionals and promote the heck out of it in the USA for medical tourism.

BurningFrog 6y ago

Closest thing is Surgery Center of Oklahoma, which does not deal with insurance and has an easily accessible public price list on the web site. https://surgerycenterok.com/about/ https://surgerycenterok.com/about/

BurningFrog 6y ago
This Econtalk interview with the founder is very enlightening: https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-care/ https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-c...

hedora 6y ago

You mean Walmart Health? https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/walmart-health.html https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/walmart-... :-)

swebs 6y ago

Yes, CVS MinuteClinic.