Is the Thai Medical Really good?

[New Petchburi Pete]

It is simply not true that in America only the wealthy have access to the finest doctors and hospitals.

 

For example, if one has Medicare for health insurance, which comes with one's Social Security Retirement benefits or also for those receiving Social Security Disability benefits, a patient can go to any hospital which participates (or accepts) in the Medicare Program, and they cannot be turned away.

 

This is the situation I am in. I come from Boston and have Medicare. When in the U.S. I only go to Harvard affiliated hospitals which are perhaps the very best in America.

 

For years I was a patient of Dr. Paul Zoll (Cardiology - Beth Israel Hospital - Boston ... Dr.Zoll passed away a few years back. The Beth Israel is now the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center). Dr. Zoll invented the pacemaker.

For years, I was also a patient of Dr. Bernard Lown (Cardiology - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, now a research center I used to work at - he's now at Brigham & Womens' Hospital or retired). Dr. Lown invented the cardioverter/defibrillator.

The doctors who teach at Harvard Medical School and in their residency programs at Harvard affiliated hospitals are mostly world class physicians (maybe a few exceptions - sorry Dr Mudge!).

 

I could go on and on. And, I am not wealthy. But, the bottom line is that when in Boston, I receive the finest care at the best hospitals. I should state that in Boston there are other excellent hospitals besides those attached to Harvard University (Tufts, B.U. Medical center, etc)

 

Elsewhere in the States, there are also many truely great medical centers and medical schools that also participate in the Medicare program. For an American hospital not to accept Medicare usually spells bankruptcy, but not always. The fact that this has contributed to wildly upward spiraling costs for health care in the U.S. (now in crisis) is another topic for discussion.

 

Here in LOS. Medicare won't pay for any medical care - none outside the United States which is unfair!

So, when I seek treatment here, and I fequently do, I check on the credentials of any doctor I see. This is of the utmost importance. I seek those doctors who have done residency programs in their fields of specialty in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, N.Z., etc.

And, they are widely available not just as Bumringrad, nor only in Bangkok. I have met and been treated by quite a few fine physicians here in Thailand.