Medical Tourism

To be completely transparent I'm still in the nascent stages for this one but it is a very interesting concept that I think many people could find a lot of value in. I'd vaguely heard of medical tourism before but it wasn't until I had a chance to sit down and talk with a doctor from Colombia that I really had a chance to personally delve into medically tourism myself roughly 2 years ago.

I'll write out a brief summary of my findings here: as an United States citizen that for the most part has been employed and covered under health insurance the overall experience of dealing with the healthcare system is okay but not amazing. Submitting claims through insurance and trying to find an available date with a doctor can be frustrating but the costs aren't too bad for normal preventative procedures (i.e. annual health physicals, teeth cleanings, etc.) In an emergency though the emergency room can be a very terrible experience with long wait times and chaotic energy where it like you will just be lost as a footnote.

Comparing the healthcare system of America to other countries there are some parallel's I believe extend to most aspects of life which is that life in America is really great if you are already extremely rich. The most advanced cutting edge technologies are developed, tested, and made commercially available in many hospital systems and academic institutions in the United States; however it is also the most expensive.

Again this can be a great choice if you have the resources but over time these newest technologies and practices eventually spread to countries outside of the United States and they usually can provide the services for a cheaper cost. As a personal example in Colombia I reached out to see a dentist I was able to find an appointment the day after I enquired and I received pretty much the same service that I receive in the United States (including fluoride which has started to become phased out by insurance).

The cost less than $40 without insurance - for reference a dentist appointment without insurance near my home in California is ~$200. There are a few differences that I did notice such as dimmer lights and lower water pressure. In a developing country like Colombia you can learn a lot about the infrastructure of your own country these were things I never noticed in any dental practice despite having visited 5 different practices across California and Hawai'i and I never noticed any difference in water pressure or light strength. When you have to do small things like throw your toilet paper in a trash receptacle because toilet water pressure isn't that strong you start to be thankful for little things back in your home country.

I've also visited clinics in the Philippines and Singapore as well and you will find that people all over the world take healthcare just as seriously as they do in the United States and the experience really isn't all that drastically different but the difference in pricing can be. As an oversimplification if I were to use the United States healthcare as a benchmark of 100% I would say many countries in the the world can provide a similar service at about 70%-80% of what you would receive in the United States but the price could potentially be 20% - 50% of what you would pay in the United States.

Again I'm still in the early days of exploring this for myself and the one thing I haven't explained yet is that for the dental appointment they didn't speak one word of English. I found this to be a good personal exam for my Spanish speaking skills but I would say that it can be one of the biggest tradeoffs about trying out healthcare systems abroad. If you have any questions about these experience or you know of any clinics or hospitals please feel free to reach out and I might even be happy to try them out for you.