UnitedHealth CEO shot
On my vacation to Norway last year, my wife broke her knee... she saw 3 doctors, 2 surgeons, had an MRI, CAT scan and multiple x-rays. They set her up with a very nice brace and soft cast. They then sent us to pay and the total came to a bit under $700, as non-citizens
When we got home, she went to our doctor and they switched her to a new brace (without asking us), and we were charged just $700 for the brace alone. That visit where they said that the Norwegians were correct in their assessment and treatment, but they had to put her in a hard cast (she was in a soft cast bc she had to take a flight)... cost almost $2 grand after insurance. Then she had weeks of rehab which also cost tons of money.
The Norwegian system definitely wasn't perfect. She got hurt during our glacier hike, and we had to drive an hour away from our hotel (nothing local in the small tons to xray), and then the nearest medical center said we needed to go to the hospital for their equipment, which was another hour away --- and we weren't allowed to go to a different hospital that would have been more convenient for the next stop on our trip because you get assigned to a hospital based on where the injury occurred, and you can't switch it up. So, there were administrative hassles, but there was also no waiting once we got to where we were going, and they were super efficient and it was so very much cheaper.
I have #humblebragged on here before about this, but recently had an experience here in Thailand last weekend that really drove home for me (again) how broken the American healthcare system is.. Last week i hurt my ribs when i took a bad fall while playing tennis with a young guy , yes it made me feel ancient .. after a few days of trying to tough it out, i had many people here, including a woman im seeing who is a registered nurse, cardiac & thoracic, telling me “you need go hospital”… the culture here is different; in the US, most people seem to put off going to the doctor as long as possible , whereas here people will go to the hospital for the seemingly most minor things.. so I went to one of the large hospitals here in Bangkok, the same one id gone to last year when i had what i thought was covid, just to rule out a fracture or something internal.. upon entering the ER, with no wait on a Sunday around lunchtime, i had a nurse taking my vitals and asking me questions in almost perfect English.. in another 5 minutes, i was meeting with a doctor, an Internist i believe but im not sure, it all happened so fast lol.. he sent me for X-rays and- good news- it was nothing serious, no fracture just a contusion (bruise).. he prescribed a painkiller and a muscle relaxer, and then i went to check out.. at the moment i have no employer health insurance policy, so i am self-insuring.. i wondered if the X-rays would push the cost of the visit up to something more expensive and familiar to me like what id experienced in hospitals back home in America.. i pulled out my credit card, and the cashier told me that my grand total for the ER visit, the consultation with the physician, the X-rays and the meds- came to 3600 baht.. or about $105 US dollars.. i gladly paid it, and it reminded me of one of the major reasons i decided to relocate out here .
All of this in a place that more resembled a Four Seasons than a medical facility
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On my vacation to Norway last year, my wife broke her knee... she saw 3 doctors, 2 surgeons, had an MRI, CAT scan and multiple x-rays. They set her up with a very nice brace and soft cast. They then sent us to pay and the total came to a bit under $700, as non-citizens
When we got home, she went to our doctor and they switched her to a new brace (without asking us), and we were charged just $700 for the brace alone. That visit where they said that the Norwegians were correct in their assessment and treatment, but they had to put her in a hard cast (she was in a soft cast bc she had to take a flight)... cost almost $2 grand after insurance. Then she had weeks of rehab which also cost tons of money.
The Norwegian system definitely wasn't perfect. She got hurt during our glacier hike, and we had to drive an hour away from our hotel (nothing local in the small tons to xray), and then the nearest medical center said we needed to go to the hospital for their equipment, which was another hour away --- and we weren't allowed to go to a different hospital that would have been more convenient for the next stop on our trip because you get assigned to a hospital based on where the injury occurred, and you can't switch it up. So, there were administrative hassles, but there was also no waiting once we got to where we were going, and they were super efficient and it was so very much cheaper.