Monday, November 23, 2009

Special Reports

Hospital Charges Here and Elsewhere

Posted May 1, 2008

For procedures such as the ones shown here, U.S. hospitals will most likely quote prices similar to those in the leftmost column for patients who lack insurance coverage and are ineligible for medical assistance. Not so abroad. By comparison, Medicare payments to hospitals are much closer to foreign prices than to the full-price quotes at left. Figures other than for Medicare payments were taken from Patients Beyond Borders, a bestselling series of consumer guides to international medical travel that have helped thousands of patients plan for successful procedures abroad. Healthy Travel Media, publisher of the series, has become a clearinghouse for valuable information about medical and wellness travel.

Procedure United States India Thailand Singapore Malaysia Panama South Korea Taiwan Typical Medicare Payment
Coronary artery bypass surgery $70,000-133,000 $7,000 $22,000 $16,300 $12,000 $10,500 $31,750 $27,500 $18,609-23,589
Bypass surgery with heart valve replacement $75,000-140,000 $9,500 $25,000 $22,000 $13,400 $13,500 $42,000 $30,000 $30,903-42,954
Hip replacement $33,000-57,000 $10,200 $12,700 $12,000 $7,500 $5,500 $10,600 $8,800 $10,085-12,263
Knee replacement $30,000-53,000 $9,200 $11,500 $9,600 $12,000 $7,000 $11,800 $10,000 $10,085-12,263
Prostate surgery (TURP procedure) $10,000-16,000 $3,600 $4,400 $5,300 $4,600 $3,200 $3,150 $2,750 $3,003-3,703
Gastric bypass $35,000-52,000 $9,300 $13,000 $16,500 $12,700 $8,500 $9,300 $10,200 $7,902-9,876
Face-lift $10,500-16,000 $4,800 $5,000 $7,500 $6,400 $2,500 $6,650 $8,500 *

* Not reimbursable. Note: U.S. charges are list prices. Physician and certain other fees are generally excluded. Prices at non-U.S. hospitals are all-inclusive other than for Panama, which does not include surgeon’s fee. Medicare amounts represent typical reimbursements to hospitals. Sources: Patients Beyond Borders, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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