I'm 57 yr old, never had health ins. in my life.I was obese for many yrs, with diabetes, i was so big i could hardly work.I had sleep apnea( spelling?)...waking up nites gasping for air...
In 2004, i decided to spend my savings on weight loss surgery(WLS)...I lost half my body in 15 months( from 360lb. to 180lb).
I no longer had type 2 diabetes, nor sleep apnea..The procedure i had cost $50,000.00 at the time in a NYC hosptal.I had the same exact procedure in Frankfurt, Germany for $14,000. all inclusive, minus airfare ($800.round trip)..The surgeon also removed my gall bladder that he said was in terrible condition, along with my appendixs, at no addition charge.
In effect, i recieved a midlife overhaul for my $14,00.00...The procedure gave me back my life....
My point is, in this day and age, we have to think outside the box.We all know the whole health care/Ins. scene in America is a huge mess. I don't see it getting better anytime soon.
We can't do much if were involved in a serious auto wreck and find ourselves in the hospital. Some things we can do, like going to a country that is known for medical tourism..Like Costa Rica for excellent , state of the art dental care.
My teeth are a mess, i need many thousands of dollars of work. I can save thousands by going to Costa Rica for excellent dental work.
I don't have the money now to do this now.Like many Americans i'm out of work.
Some off you folks may have some savings and by doing online searches can get life saving procedures done so much cheaper overseas. I don't mean in some half ass fly by nite operations.There are allot of overseas places with superior health care compared to the USA...
God forbid, should i need cancer surgery, i wouldn't have it done in America, i'd lose the only thing i really own free and clear,my home.
Many Americans go to Mexico for health procedures, personally, i wouldn't...They save big bucks by doing it though...
Will this idea help everyone , no it won't..but its something for some of us to consider..By the way, did you know there is a big American retirement community in Costa Rica...? Good health care and more affordable living, mosty friendly natives..
It would be a big change from what we as Americans are us to, for sure. But, lets face it, the world is spinning very quickly these days....Something to think about..What other options do we have besides American medicine and Ins. robbery...???????
I had a quote from a Specialist many years ago and then it was $10K. The work I need done requires a bone graft etc. etc. and months of work.
, and I've found these posts very interesting. My husband is self employed so we pay for our health insurance out of pocket. We have a plan thru United and we are set up in a "pool" of people as a group to help lower costs, however we still pay 650/month in premiums with a 4000/deductible. I'm not sure this classifies as catastrophe insurance but nothing is covered until we meet the deductible. Our premiums rise every year and definitely the most expensive thing is maternity. Our coverage is under a rider and it has a cap of 2500. Once that is met they cover nothing. Extra expenses don't even go toward the deductible, which mean we get no "insurance adjusted discount". Imagine my surprise to get a 10k hospital bill for my daughter! We've thought long and hard about dropping this but living on a farm I just am not sure its a risk I want to take. An ER visit last year for my husband was 1000 out of pocket, but would have been over 3k without insurance. When I discovered I was pregnant this spring, I called the hospital billing to see if I could just start making payments so I wouldn't be hit with such a large bill in Oct (coincidentally the same month our property taxes come out..lol) and she told me to not even present my insurance card at the hospital, to use it only for my docs since they won't accept me without, and to say I was "self-pay" at the hospital. Self pay will give you the insurance companies rates (30-50% off the original charge) plus an additional 15% off if you pay within 15 days of recieving the bill. I do, however, have to plunk down a 3k deposit before the baby is born but in the event I don't incur 3k worth of charges, the excess will be refunded. So far this has been working nicely, although I won't know fo sure until the baby is born. 
