Medical maintenance, Siam style (colonoscopy, dental, biopsy, polyps)
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We're in Thailand for a few months and one of our tasks is handling routine medical maintenance including dentist, physical, and now that we're over 50 our first colonoscopies. Since this forum has occasional discussions on medical tourism I thought I would put a thread in here and share how things work out and how much they cost.
We picked a hospital with good reviews and a doctor who went to medical school in London since she would likely speak English well. The initial consultation has been finished, doc did speak English just fine although nurses are hit or miss, younger ones speak English better than older ones. My wife and I are doing offset days since I've heard about the prep and our condo only has one bathroom We each have a plastic jug that looks like a spare blender part you'd see on the shelf at Goodwill, and two meds.
Initial cost = 17,000 baht or about $485 USD, which includes consultation, meds for prep, and the procedure. They do have additional charges for any polyps she removes that need a biopsy, the range is pretty wide depending on whatever it depends on.
Yes, we have ACA insurance in USA which would do this for free but it is an HMO so the calculus would be how does it cost for us to fly to a city in USA we have no other reason to be in, rent a car, pay for hotel or airbnb for enough time to deal with everything, versus Bangkok where we wanted to be anyway. It isn't even close.
We're in Thailand for a few months and one of our tasks is handling routine medical maintenance including dentist, physical, and now that we're over 50 our first colonoscopies. Since this forum has occasional discussions on medical tourism I thought I would put a thread in here and share how things work out and how much they cost.
We picked a hospital with good reviews and a doctor who went to medical school in London since she would likely speak English well. The initial consultation has been finished, doc did speak English just fine although nurses are hit or miss, younger ones speak English better than older ones. My wife and I are doing offset days since I've heard about the prep and our condo only has one bathroom We each have a plastic jug that looks like a spare blender part you'd see on the shelf at Goodwill, and two meds.
Initial cost = 17,000 baht or about $485 USD, which includes consultation, meds for prep, and the procedure. They do have additional charges for any polyps she removes that need a biopsy, the range is pretty wide depending on whatever it depends on.
Yes, we have ACA insurance in USA which would do this for free but it is an HMO so the calculus would be how does it cost for us to fly to a city in USA we have no other reason to be in, rent a car, pay for hotel or airbnb for enough time to deal with everything, versus Bangkok where we wanted to be anyway. It isn't even close.
Meanwhile, I have a PPO through the marketplace, and routine colonoscopies are covered. If I go in-network I pay nothing, if I'm out of network I pay $160. Prep is around $10 for some gatorade, ginger ale, the miralax powder, the laxative pills, and a couple cans of chicken broth. Since it's a PPO, I can go to almost any doctor in my area - they're almost all participating medical professionals within a 100-mile radius.
Again, I'd be covered too but we don't live in USA. The cost of returning to USA just to do a colonoscopy would be far higher than what I'll pay in Bangkok.
Well, sure, and though I also have a PPO and colonoscopies are basically free, it would cost me a ton more to go to Bangkok to do it.
Exactly-- we're comparing apples and oranges here. Airfare from wherever OP lives (apparently not somewhere with good medical care if they're looking to leave the country for something as simple as a colonoscopy or dental work or a routine physical) to Bangkok is likely a night-and-day difference from airfare from the U.S. As well as adding in the cost of wherever one stays, etc.
Medical tourism, AFAIK, is for people who need procedures that are so expensive, and so not-covered-by-insurance, that the several thousand dollars to travel somewhere like Bangkok (airfare, hotel, etc.) is still cheaper than staying in the U.S. to have it done at prices here. Often not true of routine care.
I live in a small border town. When I go into our local Cancer Center, the waiting room is usually about 50% Medical Tourists. They typically cross the border because in their local areas there are not enough oncologists able to treat them in a timely fashion. The waiting list is longer than their projected lifespan considering the disease.
My oncologist serves on the board of directors of the Cancer Center, he has vented to me a few times about the influx of Medical Tourists that they treat.
We also have a local Joint Replacement Center, I have not gone to it, though many of our friends have gone to it for outpatient services. I would suspect that they are also swamped with Medical Tourists.
When my father was elderly he lived as a Snow Bird spending the winters in Southern states. He was very fond of going down to Mexico for his dental and vision care. He had very low-quality health insurance [provided via the IBEW], and he claimed that paying cash to Mexican doctors was far cheaper than paying the co-pays in the states.
We're in Thailand for a few months and one of our tasks is handling routine medical maintenance including dentist, physical, and now that we're over 50 our first colonoscopies. Since this forum has occasional discussions on medical tourism I thought I would put a thread in here and share how things work out and how much they cost.
We picked a hospital with good reviews and a doctor who went to medical school in London since she would likely speak English well. The initial consultation has been finished, doc did speak English just fine although nurses are hit or miss, younger ones speak English better than older ones. My wife and I are doing offset days since I've heard about the prep and our condo only has one bathroom We each have a plastic jug that looks like a spare blender part you'd see on the shelf at Goodwill, and two meds.
Initial cost = 17,000 baht or about $485 USD, which includes consultation, meds for prep, and the procedure. They do have additional charges for any polyps she removes that need a biopsy, the range is pretty wide depending on whatever it depends on.
Yes, we have ACA insurance in USA which would do this for free but it is an HMO so the calculus would be how does it cost for us to fly to a city in USA we have no other reason to be in, rent a car, pay for hotel or airbnb for enough time to deal with everything, versus Bangkok where we wanted to be anyway. It isn't even close.
Why do you have to do it NOW? You're only doing the other stuff because it's cheaper in Thailand, right? So wait until you get home to do the "free" colonoscopies.
Oh - so "being Thailand for a few months" doesn't mean you're returning to the U.S. You have absolutely no reason and no desire to return for any length of time? Not even to a "fun" locale as a vacation? Okay, if that's the case just get it done in Thailand. $500 isn't all that much, is it, considering your other medical savings?
Why do you have to do it NOW? You're only doing the other stuff because it's cheaper in Thailand, right? So wait until you get home to do the "free" colonoscopies.
Oh - so "being Thailand for a few months" doesn't mean you're returning to the U.S. You have absolutely no reason and no desire to return for any length of time? Not even to a "fun" locale as a vacation? Okay, if that's the case just get it done in Thailand. $500 isn't all that much, is it, considering your other medical savings?
Again, I'd be covered too but we don't live in USA. The cost of returning to USA just to do a colonoscopy would be far higher than what I'll pay in Bangkok.
Ah. You said in your first post that you were in Thailand "for a few months." I assumed you lived in the states the rest of the year. If that were the case, you could've just waited til you returned home and made an appointment at home, and insurance would cover the routine colonoscopy.
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We each have a plastic jug that looks like a spare blender part you'd see on the shelf at Goodwill, and two meds.
