More who need major surgery are leaving U.S.-brief cost comparison chart at end of story

[fed-up]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/04/BURS10BARG.DTL&tsp=1
More who need major surgery are leaving U.S.
Overseas treatments sometimes carry extra risks, but can come at fraction of the expense
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008

Robert Lupo of Santa Rosa had never been on an airplane until last month, when he flew to India to get his hip replaced.

The 45-year-old self-employed contractor had dropped his Kaiser coverage before an uninsured driver hit him last summer while he was riding his motorcycle. A $50,000 settlement covered those medical bills and living expenses while he was unable to work, but Lupo later learned he needed a hip replacement - a $30,000 price he couldn't afford.

With pain as his primary motivator, Lupo started researching his options online. He eventually found his way to WorldMed Assist, a 2-year-old Concord company that is part of a growing industry that makes arrangements for Americans to get medical care abroad.

Lupo's hip surgery and hospital stay cost $8,880 at Wockhardt Hospital in Bangalore. Even with the $1,300 airfare, the procedure totaled about a third of what it would have cost Lupo at a local hospital.

..snip

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. More outsourcing...

Guess they don't have insurance executives in India earning 8-9 figure salaries...

[unpossibles]

2. but I thought everyone in the world came here for surgeries? That's what the TV tells me

that's sarcasm, btw.

[ikojo]

3. There was an insurance company that wanted to

send a patient to India for surgery because it was cheaper but I think that person's union complained. I wish I had the link but I think it was sometime in 2007.

Oh trust me if the insurance companies could do this and get by with it they would because their primary concern is what's called the number of bed days per month and what those days cost the company.

[dbredes]

4. We Need Humanitarian Aid!

We need the healthcare movement to begin organizing requests to the UN/Canada & Mexico. Over 40million Americans are living without access to medical care.

Couldn't Canada and Mexico begin offering care to Americans who are obviously dying by the thousands every year...because they are unable to get care? You know setup humanitarian clinics...travel the country...provide temp medical visas to Americans?

We need representation at the UN...I think..We need to Shame the United States into finally "really" answering this crisis?

Other refugee groups are allowed to present their plight to the UN...arguing that their respective countries are oppressing & killing their citizens. Shouldn't Americans be given the chance to seek medical refugee status...

I believe it could be successfully argued that we are experiencing an economic Apartheid...They're "literally" killing us off..Minorities, woman...Economic cleansing.