cavanami Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 The value for the $$$ paid for health care in Thailand is the best I have seen anywhere in the world! The USA has good healthcare but waaaaaaaaaay over priced and the doctors in the USA are soooooooo quick to cut on you so they can get the almighty $$$$! Since I no longer have health care insurance in the USA, I do all my medical here in Thailand. Zero complaints about the health care in Thailand...but I have a hell of a lot of complaints about the health care in the USA and not only about the cost! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Over the last 25 years, there has been a big transformation in how americans pay for health care.. A large percentage now is managed care plans or a varity or IPO, PPO, etc. Thus, the incentive for doctors to be paid on a cost basis no longer exists in these care plans. Yes, cost-based reimbursement exists but not to the drgree it existed before. There are choices now when prior 1980 none existed..... As I said earlier, one needs to comapre apples to apples. I will assume you are basing you experiences on personal ones which i would project do not represent the average Thai health care coverage.. You probably pay out of pocket or have foreign insurance which would be cost prohibitive for the average Thai... In essence, you are probably in the top 10% or per-capita income receiving the best level of care in thailand because you are willing to pay for it. For you it is great value; same as paying a thai hooker $35 for the same service it would cost one $300 in the US... I am going to guess you had typical coverage that isn't anything above the norm of the typical american worker with health insurance or you didn't hvae inner contacts. You stand in line like everyone else or seen based urgency of medical need...Thus, you would get the same access and privileges that the that the average Thai would get. It ain't going to Bumrungrad or Samitivej for care... It sounds like one is comparing a Mercedes here because one can afford it here to a honda because that is what one can afford back home...I think better to compare like services and products.... If cost is not prohibtive and one is willing to pay for it, then the quality of medical care in the US probably unsurpassed...yeah, it will cost you an arm and a leg just to save them medically speaking.... The problem with american health care in addition to the large non-coverage group is the average american health insurance is covering less and less, paying more for it, and the services provided is under immense pressure from a huge 'demand" side of the equation....It has become a multi tier level of service and care... I hate saying this but the privatization of health care works fine for the wealthy and those with overlapping/premium coverages but fails miserably for the average american with average level of health insurance. Its like a french meal, one keeps paying more for smaller portions... The gov needs to intervene for the masses/average person and the poor people and be a major player/leader in whatever system is designed. Some type of hybrid system minus the negatives of socialized medicine of course... The blame rests everywhere from consumers expecting perfection, from greedy drug companies to insurance carriers to over-zealous regulators to labor unions/management organizational design to medical/legal intervention to too-much empahsis on technolgy as the only solution to what is/becomes the leading definition of the medical model of diagnosis and treatment... Not much will change until BOTH the consumer and the provider agree to stop trying to play GOD or expect GOD. Is it time for doctors to swear off the hyprocatic oath? Let death take its natural course... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 CB, have you tried getting medical care for the same problem in Thailand and in the USA? I have. With insurance in the USA, almost impossible to get treatment. In Thailand, I get treatment and the cost is generally less then what my co-payment is in the USA. Yes, I have insurance in the USA. Yes, my USA medical insurance covers medical care in Thailand. No I never have had to file a claim for medical care in Thailand. No, I do not have medical insurance in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Here's one you will never see in the USA... I had an appointment to see the doctor at Samitivej. He arrived 1/2 hour late, checked me out and apologized for being late... He also declined to charge me!!! Yes, free, because he was late...like you will ever see this in the USA??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglesoup Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I went private in the UK, and again went private in Thailand for the same problem because I felt the it hadnt been dealt with completely in the uk. The service was much better in Thailand and done 100 times quicker, literally. My exprience in general is much better in Thailand than UK, also the nurses are prettier, and the hospitals much nicer inside. feel so much cleaner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Here's one you will never see in the USA... I had an appointment to see the doctor at Samitivej. He arrived 1/2 hour late, checked me out and apologized for being late... He also declined to charge me!!! Yes, free, because he was late...like you will ever see this in the USA??? Not sure about the USA, coz I'm Australian, but no... would never see this in Oz, either. Having said that, I think you did well, coz I've never heard of this happening in Thailand either!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magician Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 I took my wife to Bum to have some cervical lesions surgically removed. I asked the doctor for a ballpark estimate on the procedure, and he figured that it would be "no more than 30,000 baht." Well, when the day came, we were directed to the cashiers before the procedure was performed. I was asked to make a deposit of 30,000 baht. I did so. The doctor did his work, the experience was exemplary in multiple respects, and I considered it a solid value for the money. Most of all, I was reassured by this doctor's competence. He is US-trained, very good, with fluent English. That was the true bottom line for me. When the final cost reconciliation was done, I was owed a 5,000 baht refund. It took a week to hit my account, but it did hit. Total cost: 25,000 baht. Time: 3 hours, including recuperation. Quality of the care: superb. Overall patient experience: superb. I had some pretty damned good Italian food on the 2d floor while I was waiting. I routinely patronize the StarBucks on the 1st floor everytime that I walk into that hospital. I personally appreciate being treated with politeness and respect. If it is feigned, purely as a reaction to my perceived ability to pay, fine. I will take it. No question in my mind that Bum will require payment before providing services, if the projected cost exceeds an unknown threshold. In my case, wearing a finely tailored suit, with my wife in the finest Siam Paragon fashions, that amount apparently was in the neighborhood of 30,000 baht. Whatever. I have no doubt that the cost of the procedure would have been more expensive in the West, and we certainly would not have had the exemplary service that we received. Patronizing Bumrungrad is a viable option for those who have the means to pay, and it represents a solid value compared to most facilities in the US, in my opinion. I will use them again. For what it is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivestockLover Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 "In the better hospitals (international, top thai), many of the docs will have been trained entirely or partly overseas, ...." Many. Entirely or Partly. The fact is, the vast majority of docs at bumrungrad and BNH got their medical degrees from thailand schools. And this is easily seen by looking at their websites. p.s. One of the reasons why I don't use the DENTAL HOSPITAL (soi 49) is that you cannot tell where the dental docs got their training. And you can't even get that info. when you visit, unless you ask each doc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Could you provide insight as to where you got this information? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Are the doctors getting their medical degree or their medical training in america? My guess is it would be their medical training (residencies) and much less their medical degree... An accredited US medical school requires a four-year university degree that meets all the pre-med science/math courses and the medcats for entrance examination.... IN LOS, these kids go directly from high school and can be a doctor in six years with additional residencies... So unless the they are applying to US med school after they complete their six years of basic core/medical education? The only other way is they get an undergraduate first from a western university meeting all the entrancee requirements and then applying to medical school and any type of residency that follows which can range up to six years... So are thai students really spending 10 to 14 years away from their home counrty to say they are medically educated and trained in america? There is a difference between medical education and clinical training/residencies in the US... When one says he/she is educated or trained in US, one really needs to look closely on what they are saying to what they actually mean... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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