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I had four surgeries last year. In all cases I was given a price quote plus a ballpark on the cost of incidentals (things purchased outside the hospital, e.g. a

I had four surgeries last year. In all cases I was given a price quote plus a ballpark on the cost of incidentals (things purchased outside the hospital, e.g. antibiotics to consume at home). For example, I was told that my spine surgery would cost 1.4 lac only. The final bill: https://imgur.com/Dbkrmo7 https://imgur.com/Dbkrmo7 In all cases the final price agreed with my initial quote down to the rupee. The cost of the incidentals was also within the ballpark that I was told (and minor in any case - e.g. 1.4 lac for surgery and 2-3k for post surgery pills). One of the wonderful things about India is that the medical system is almost entirely consumer driven - you have a problem, you pay the doctor, and he does his thing. Customers choose a doctor based (in part) on price, resulting in price competition. Nonsense like refusing a price quote will result in customers walking away. Given a choice, I'll always choose to consume medicine in India. It's just a vastly superior system to anyplace else I've tried.

solutionyogi 12y ago
Couldn't agree more. I am an Indian and when I first came to US, my biggest surprise was that jobs would advertise 'health insurance' as a benefit. I never understood it till I had to obtain medical care. If you want to experience true free market health care, you must go to India. Whenever I visit India, I make sure to get my teeth cleaning done. Person in my home town has a choice to get teeth cleaning done from 500 INR (7$) to 3500 INR (55$). On the low end, you get a clinic which is not in the hip part of the town, equipment is not the latest and greatest and the waiting room will be non air conditioned. On the higher end, the clinic will be fully air conditioned, serve you tea/coffee and will use the latest equipment. On my last trip, a real dentist (not a hygienist) performed my teeth cleaning and they took my teeth x-ray using those new machines where you stand up and the machine takes 360 degree scan. After the cleaning, the doctor took me to her office and reviewed the x-ray with me and then gave me a CD with all the x-ray images so that I can use them with my next doctor in case I decide to go somewhere else.
- gkop 12y ago
  How long did the dentist spend cleaning your teeth? My experience is hygienists spend more time and are more thorough because that's their one job. Also, several dentists over the years have recommended to me seeking a dentist that an employs a hygienist for this reason.
  - solutionyogi 12y ago
    I have done teeth cleaning in both US and India and I don't think there was any difference in terms of the time spent.
kristianp 12y ago
For non-Indians, a lac (Lakh) is 100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh

solutionyogi 12y ago

Couldn't agree more. I am an Indian and when I first came to US, my biggest surprise was that jobs would advertise 'health insurance' as a benefit. I never understood it till I had to obtain medical care. If you want to experience true free market health care, you must go to India. Whenever I visit India, I make sure to get my teeth cleaning done. Person in my home town has a choice to get teeth cleaning done from 500 INR (7$) to 3500 INR (55$). On the low end, you get a clinic which is not in the hip part of the town, equipment is not the latest and greatest and the waiting room will be non air conditioned. On the higher end, the clinic will be fully air conditioned, serve you tea/coffee and will use the latest equipment. On my last trip, a real dentist (not a hygienist) performed my teeth cleaning and they took my teeth x-ray using those new machines where you stand up and the machine takes 360 degree scan. After the cleaning, the doctor took me to her office and reviewed the x-ray with me and then gave me a CD with all the x-ray images so that I can use them with my next doctor in case I decide to go somewhere else.

gkop 12y ago
How long did the dentist spend cleaning your teeth? My experience is hygienists spend more time and are more thorough because that's their one job. Also, several dentists over the years have recommended to me seeking a dentist that an employs a hygienist for this reason.
- solutionyogi 12y ago
  I have done teeth cleaning in both US and India and I don't think there was any difference in terms of the time spent.

kristianp 12y ago

For non-Indians, a lac (Lakh) is 100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh