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He
would have paid for the operation himself regardless, reports
Marin Independent Journal (MIJ).
"I've got one of those wonderful $5,000 deductible policies,"
Aschwald said.
MIJ adds: "A Santa Clara doctor quoted Aschwald a price of
$4,895 for surgery to correct myopia. The cost in India was
$1,250. The surgery was performed by an Indian doctor trained
in London using laser equipment made in Germany - so new that
it hasn't yet been licensed in the United States.
"Aschwald said he would have spent $2,000 in the United States
for the CT angiogram that cost him $225 in India.
"It took the Aschwalds 25 hours to fly to India, not counting
a six-hour layover in Singapore. They paid $1,450 apiece for
airfare and $185 a night to stay at The Orchid, an ecology
hotel in the exclusive Bollywood section of Mumbai where the
eye clinic was located. "They arrived on a Wednesday. Aschwald
had his CT angiogram performed the next day. On Sunday, he had
his eye surgery and on the next Tuesday the couple flew to
another area in India and began touring. The temperatures
during their 17-day visit were in the 80s. It rained only
once.
"Because Americans going abroad for medical treatment often
combine business and pleasure, the trend is typically referred
to as medical tourism."
The latest edition (May 23) of the Time magazine reports that
"as word has spread about the high-quality care and cut-rate
surgery available in such countries as India, Thailand,
Singapore and Malaysia, a growing stream of uninsured and
underinsured Americans are boarding planes not for the typical
face-lift or tummy tuck but for discount hip replacements and
sophisticated heart surgeries.
"Bumrungrad alone, according to CEO Curtis Schroeder, saw its
stream of American patients climb to 55,000 last year, a 30%
rise. Three-quarters of them flew in from the U.S.; 83% came
for noncosmetic treatments. Meanwhile, India's trade in
international patients is increasing at the same rate.
"Is the quality of care in foreign hospitals high enough? To
cater to an international clientele, many private hospitals
abroad are applying for accreditation (many of them
successfully) from the Joint Commission International, the
global arm of the institution that accredits most U.S.
hospitals.
"Many of the tourist hospitals teem with surgeons who have
trained in the U.S. or Britain, which is a great comfort to
American patients (the irony is that 25% of physicians in the
U.S. got their M.D.s abroad).
India's fast becoming a favoured destination for dental
surgery, says an article in today's (May 22) edition of a
leading Indian newspaper The Hindu.
"Not only is treatment cheaper here, Indian doctors are also
considered the best. Two leading politicians from Afghanistan
and medical tourists from countries such as the United States
and the United Kingdom recently visited a cosmetic dental
surgeon in South Delhi to get their teeth repaired and fixed.
With new surgical techniques being adopted by the Indian
doctors which not only make the dental procedures almost
painless but also extremely quick, for patients abroad India
is fast becoming a favoured destination for dental surgery."
A leading dentist was quoted as saying that now the procedures
take very little time. As against three months for a complete
implant of all 32 teeth, it now takes just about a week for
even the elderly who have lost all their teeth to get a
shining new set.
"For foreigners India is becoming an attractive destination as
not only is treatment much cheaper here, Indian doctors are
also considered the best in the world," said a dental cosmetic
surgeon. Moreover, he pointed out that as German and Swiss
implants are being used by him and other doctors here and the
best of infrastructure is being provided by them, many
foreigners now find India ideal to get themselves treated.
"And for Indians, he said, the procedures have also become
much cheaper than before due to advent of new techniques and
spread of technology. A complete dental implant which used to
cost around Rs 40,000 earlier, now only costs about Rs
25,000." |
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