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I was a medical tourist in the opposite direction earlier this year. I'm from Canada, land of free health care, and my doctor told me that I would have to wait
by IANAICANABANA 13y ago
I was a medical tourist in the opposite direction earlier this year. I'm from Canada, land of free health care, and my doctor told me that I would have to wait 6 months to see a specialist.
My ailment[1] prevented me from sleeping most nights, caused severe, productivity-ending headaches all day, and caused me to pop ibuprofens like candy. My PCP attempted to use water to eliminate what he believed was an earwax impaction 14 times on separate days. It had been almost 2 months of me completely disabled before he was willing to put in a referral to the ENT. When he did, they told me it would be six months. You can imagine my frustration.
So, I had a friend drive me to a clinic in Washington state. A bit of discussion, $900 and two visits later, I had seen an otolaryngologist, he had used a small curette to clean out the ear canal, and I was better. $900 to not cry myself to sleep all day for six months seemed like a pretty good deal to me.
Six months later I got a phone call from an office of an ENT here in Canada. I was unbelievably angry.
[1] I had a condition where the skin had grown over the eardrum in your ear. It required surgery by an otolaryngologist to remove the problem and restore my hearing.
- joe_the_user 13y agoI read a while back that the US hospitals charge foreign medical tourists competitive rates. But getting that rate as an American is another matter since the hospitals make so much with their standard rates.
- JVIDEL 13y agoNope, I been to the doctor while in the US and the bill was insane given it was a routine check. Good thing I had travel insurance.
- joe_the_user 13y agoI mean the price charged to people from other countries who shop different hospitals for particular medical procedures - "medical tourists". Ordinary tourists who come for other reasons and happen to seek medical care are a completely different story - they'll be charged the "highest possible fee, 'cause we can" rate.
- GhotiFish 13y agoI had a friend who was in the military, he chipped a bone in his food during training and gave him a limp. He couldn't prove it happened on training grounds, so the military wasn't willing to pay to fix it, but he was also able to resign (I question this logic. Nice job Canadian military). So he scheduled surgery, it wasn't due for 4 years. His life wasn't in danger, it wasn't completely debilitating, he could walk with a limp. So rather than go to another country, he actually soldiered it (he's the soldiering type it seems). Well guess what 4 years of a persistent limp + exercise does to you. Nothing good. He finally had the bone chip removed, I'm sure a cheap operation. Only now he's had 6+ years of physiotherapy correcting his improperly developed muscular system. +1 Canada for having a public health care system that moves fast when it needs to. -1 Canada for having a public health care system that moves incredibly slow when it doesn't need to.
- jseliger 13y agoSix months later I got a phone call from an office of an ENT here in Canada. I was unbelievably angry. I had a similar experience with the UK's public healthcare system when I was studying abroad there; had I been completely dependent on it, I likely would've died before being treated.