Press release by Richard Jordan, PR Coordinator for DentaRica, LLC
Clemmons, NC -- The most recent traveller with NC Medical Travel was also a staff member (and, awkwardly, the author of this press release). He had his PCNL surgery Dec. 7, 2014 performed by Dr. Lopez and his team at UNIBE Hospital in Costa Rica. In the U.S. he could have expected a bill of around $38,000. His Costa Rican bill (including flights, recovery center stay, meals and lodging for 5 nights, and fees) was $12,000.
Please watch a video detailing this trip up to that point at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-QNPpdF698 or our Facebook page, facebook.com/ncmedicaltravel
He counts himself very lucky (and very blessed) to have been in the right place at the right time. He felt assured because of his previous personal experience with UNIBE Hospital (and trust me, a colonoscopy is very personal!). He had met his surgeon on a previous trip, and felt confidence about his care. He could not say the same about his USA healthcare options.
As staff of NC Medical Travel, Richard has become acutely aware of the risks of USA healthcare, from the hassles of simple overbilling to deadly medical errors. Even worse than death, in its way, is a lifetime of suffering. Recently he heard the chilling story of a young man blinded for the rest of his life because his doctor put the wrong medicine in his eye. In another, a man with a similar PCNL surgery experienced (due to sloppy care) extensive kidney damage, painful infection, and the need for further surgery. Meaning after all he went through, the surgery was not successful, and cost over 3 times as much! A recent online article about PCNL complications in the USA states: "overall complications rose from about 12 percent to nearly 16 percent [in 2009]"
Cost and available money was a huge factor in his decision, but the biggest reason he chose Costa Rica was the feeling he got that his life was on the line. It was simply not worth the risk to trust his life to the US healthcare system.
Ultimately, his other considerations were not worth a risk to his lifetime health. He would not have travelled if he had not believed in the quality of care he was going to receive at UNIBE Hospital and other partners of NC Medical Travel.
Normally, a kidney stone incident is an emergency. It is a condition thus rarely seen in medical travel. The more common healthcare needs are elective procedures, including dental reconstruction, preventative care, and hip and knee surgeries. His early detection was a blessing.
Richard does not have typical insurance. The plan he does have (Samaritan Ministries healthcare newsletter) needed him to pay up front (self-pay). Many Americans are facing a similar predicament, especially if they have high co-pays, a high deductible, or no insurance at all.
Richard's experience may be able to offer one more option that many Americans have not considered. Richard has become convinced that the modern American healthcare system actually creates suffering by limiting options, forcing people to live with pain, forcing them to delay needed treatments until the problem has grown worse (and less treatable), forcing them to leave a hospital before they are ready, and making medical errors appear acceptable.
He wonders whatever happened to that whole "do no harm" thing.
Richard wants to make it clear: he holds good doctors and other medical professionals in high esteem. They did not create this atmosphere, and oftentimes they are critical of it themselves. He considers most such practitioners as trustworthy and compassionate and skilled. The ones that are not, however, make him afraid for America (and his own future health).
About NC Medical Travel:
NC Medical Travel (known internationally as DentaRica and MediRica) is a USA-based company with an open-to-the-public office in Clemmons, NC. They make medical travel convenient and much safer than unassisted medical tourism through various means, including finding trustworthy Costa Rican partners, performing background checks on these partners, setting up appointments, answering questions from USA residents, and when needed guiding their guests personally.
Their website is www.ncmedicaltravel.com/
Cited website: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=168851
No comments:
Post a Comment