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Globalhcf and Medical Tourism: a Cure for the High Price of Medical and Dental Costs
GlobalHCF and Medical Tourism: A Cure for the High Price of Medical and Dental Costs.
Did you know that over 47 million people have no medical insurance in the United States? Yes, 47 million people! The entire United States population is estimated at close to 300 million people. To give you a perspective of that number – it is more than the estimated aggregate populations of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina. The number of people without dental insurance is estimated at 120 million. And, we have not started to talk about the under insured of our population. But I suppose these numbers will do. They are so large that it’s hard enough for most of us to grasp anyway.
When we talk about the uninsured many think that we are talking about the poorest of poor in our country. And while that is partially true, it does not make up the majority. Approximately 80% of the United States is made up of small to medium size enterprises or businesses – called SME’s. Many of these SME’s can not afford the cost of providing insurance coverage to their employees any more than the employees can cover the cost of premiums on their own. Many of these uninsured and underinsured are the working population, the retired, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, single parents, and yes, the working poor. But these folks are not the only people who can not afford medical and dental insurance. The owners of the SME’s can not afford insurance for their own families as they struggle to compete in today’s increasingly competitive global market. Even people who have jobs that help cover some of the cost of insurance premiums find they are being asked to assume more and more of the cost yearly. Even big business is struggling under the cost of health insurance in the United States.
Increasing medical costs and decreasing health benefits, is taking a heavy toll on those with either no insurance or a limited coverage. At an age when health benefits are most sought, people struggle to stay healthy instead, for fear of rising medical bills. But an accident or a major illness can completely wipe out a lifetime of savings and quickly put either a person or a business into bankruptcy. We also increasingly see in the news of large health insurance providers systematically dropping those who have paid their premiums religiously just when they need it the most. For a business it’s difficult to hire and then keep good employees when they are seeking medical and dental benefits for their family.
I guess all of us can see why this problem has been given so much coverage in politics today. And while it is a worthy banner to fly at election time – it is one illness that is going to be very hard to cure. And if there is a cure it will be slow arriving.
One of those SME’s of the Upper Cumberland’s is addressing this issue of health care for businesses and individuals alike. Global Health Care Facilitators (GlobalHCF) of Nashville and Cookeville Tennessee have for the past year been trying to help businesses and individuals obtain medical and dental care for at realistic and affordable prices.
An interview with Dr. Bill Thomas explained the practice and interest that global health care facilitating is producing. He explains that global travel to receive the best medical has been around for centuries. Many people travel to Canada, Germany, the U.S. and the U.K. to receive top level medical and dental care. People in Tennessee have no problems going to Vanderbilt in Nashville or the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Of course these hospitals come with a high price. Even a trip to a local hospital can easily cost upwards of $60,000 for a 3-4 day stay. GlobalHCF offers another alternative.
Dr. Thomas explains, “GlobalHCF has contracts with most world renowned Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals and physicians worldwide.” He further explains that JCI is the accrediting body for international hospitals similar to what JCAHO is for U.S. hospitals. The primary difference is that the cost is up to 70-80% less than here in the United States.
In a recent procedure, Dr. Thomas explains that a “Birmingham Resurfacing Procedure” which costs approximately $65,000 in Nashville was done for a total of $7500 at the world class Wockhardt hospital in India. Recently a lady had breast augmentation for a total of $2200. This is not unusual. He can tell you of procedures ranging from drug addiction assistance to heart surgery where in every case the cost was a fraction of what it would cost in the Unites States.
“Everyone read the front page of the Tennessean recently which discussed this current trend in businesses and individuals alike” he said. In fact search of the internet also shows several very positive documentaries from CBS, FOX, NBC and 20/20 concerning this practice. In fact this author had difficulty finding someone who had a negative experience with this process. Dr Thomas attributes that to the “increased standards of care a person receives at these hospitals”. Almost all of the hospitals literally cater to the foreign visitor like a dignitary. They are offered the very best care as they know their reputation depends on what is brought back to the U.S. GlobalHCF follows and tracks every customer and patient with the hospitals, Complaints of any kind must be answered and a plan put in place to prevent it from happening again. Dr. Thomas says the worst complaint is timing. So many people are taking vacations and getting treatment in the medical tourism that it’s difficult to move fast enough. “Your health is a matter we take seriously” he says. It is very important that the client talk with the doctor about their procedure, that the doctor reviews the files of the patient and that the patient checks out the hospital and physician thoroughly. “We don’t like surprises and insist on everything be perfect before you arrive” Dr. Thomas remarked. GlobalHCF not only helps partner the patient with the right doctor, GlobalHCF also makes travel arrangements, takes care of accommodation and food. In many cases 24 hour nursing is made available and the clients spouse travels and stays in the hospital suite at no extra charge.
Businesses have seen a huge potential with their service. GlobalHCF is able to offer what amounts to major medical coverage for some procedures at a fraction of the cost of current medical costs. Small businesses are signing up with GlobalHCF to provide coverage for their employees and owners alike. Dr. Thomas stated that “It’s like having coverage and your premiums never leaving your own pocket. We take care of all the paperwork for the company and individual and lead clients all the way through the process. We are definitely a value added process to any company’s benefit package and employee retention program.”
Dr. Thomas, a seasoned traveler himself says that though life-saving medical procedures like heart surgeries, cancer treatment and elective surgeries like dental implants and cosmetic surgery cost are less than the costs of a procedure in the US, it is not because of a lack of expertise. The industry see’s it as rather a lack of malpractice suits and high administrative costs, which has crippled the health industry here. A surgery which would cost 50,000 dollars and above here in hospital charges alone can be performed for as less as 10,000 dollars all inclusive of medical costs, plane fare and a holiday package, a realistic amount which can be put together with savings and loans. While medical and dental care in the U.S. is overall excellent, the U.S. does not have a monopoly on great physicians or hospitals. Many of the physicians in these foreign hospitals have received the very same training as U.S. physicians, in the very same universities, and then went home to practice their craft.
Countries like India which are actively promoting medical tourism are increasingly seeking JCI certification, to instill faith in the medical tourists coming to them, very well realizing that the publicity generated by one surgery could de-rail a burgeoning industry, expected to jump 30 percent every year. Besides the hospitals equipped with the latest medically advanced diagnostic equipments, Indian pharmaceutical companies also meet stringent requirements of the US Food and Drug administration. Medical advancements have meant that Indian doctors can now perform the hip re-surfacing surgery among others where the damaged bone is scraped away and replaced with chrome alloy, an operation which costs less and causes less post-operative trauma than the traditional hip replacement procedure done in the US. Recently, Tourette’s disease has produced a high number of people looking for the latest in curative techniques.
To those who refuse to believe that anything could surpass the medical treatment available here in the US, there are statistics to show that the doctors in these developing countries, have far more expertise and a higher success rate in handling complicated life-saving surgeries, than the doctors here in the US, thanks just to the sheer volume of surgeries they handle on a daily basis. Besides in most cases, treatment here in the US is hardly an option for those with little or no insurance. In such a scenario, if traveling to an exotic destination would mean that they can be healed and lead a productive life post-surgery, instead of wasting away for want of expensive, medical care, then it certainly seems worth taking that one chance. Dr. Thomas asks that you stop by and visit Global Health Care Facilitators on the web at www.GlobalHCF.com and see what they can do for your business, the individual, and people who need help finding an assisted living home.
About the Author
T.J. Hall is a underinsured and uninsured health advocate. She assists small businesses provide coverage for their employees and recommends low cost high quality places that perform medical and dental procedures. Ms. Hall Lives in Tennessee with her son.
Just Passing By
He is late for work. He grips the pole as the train roars down the track—thin man in his forties, pale, clean-shaven. He is wedged between other commuters. A subway beggar pleads to no one in particular, "Please, anything would help."
He looks past him at a young woman seated at the front of the car, wearing a black coat, holding a pot of flowers. An envelope has been wedged amongst the stems. Another train veers close, just outside the glass—a blur of windows and faces. The conductor calls the next stop.
Out on the platform the thin man sees the envelope, down upon the wet bricks—it is being kicked and bandied along, toward the gutter. He lifts his hand and calls out to the woman. She does not seem to hear him, only continues along her way. He pursues the envelope, snatching it up before it reaches the gutter. As the train leaves yet another one blasts past in the opposite direction.
The beggar says, "Ladies and gentlemen, please."
He angles his shoulders, as if to part the crowd, as he moves up the sidewalk. He glimpses the woman in black, about to cross the street. He is so determined to catch up with her, to give her back the envelope, that he steps right in front of a NYC bus—is drawn back by a stranger.
"Jesus, man! Pay attention!"
He glimpses her once more after the bus passes. Then the crowd swallows her.
He emerges from a rotating glass door into the lobby of Macmillan’s New York Register, hustling for the elevator, but misses it. He glances at his watch—notices a large man standing in front of the fireplace, face turned. The man is wearing a black coat and has a briefcase at his feet. The briefcase can hardly contain what it holds; papers stick out of it in every direction. The man also looks at his watch.
The elevator chimes as its doors roll open and the thin man steps in, bumbling into a woman who spills steaming hot coffee on him. He sees the figure by the fire turn, as he nurses the burn. The elevator doors close. One woman says to another, "Yeah, we got lost. Isn’t that awful? All that effort in precisely the wrong direction!"
He all but leaps from the elevator as its doors roll open, and quickly shuffles to the men’s room. He rolls up his sleeves, pours cold water on the burn. He lingers a moment over the sink: The face in the mirror is gaunt, white, sickly. He hurries to his office.
A fat man rolls back in his chair as he passes. "That you, O’Malley?"
O’Malley enters a small room crowded with potted plants and stacks of paper. The plants don’t seem to be doing very well. He has scarcely had a chance to sit down when a co-worker brings another stack of papers. "I’ll just—put these on the floor," she says.
"Mmm," says O’Malley. He sets the envelope on his desk.
His chair squeaks as he settles in. His fingers hover over the keyboard. He gets up and fetches the watering pitcher, intending to feed the plants, but only a few drops fall out. He leans close to the glass. Through his refection he sees the city extending toward the horizon, hazily a little, boxes within boxes.
He looks at the envelope. He picks it up and turns it over, reads, ‘Wilshire Clinic’.
He holds the letter and its contents in both hands as the petticab jiggles along, inching through the traffic. The plastic windows are dappled with water as he stares out: at the pedestrians and smoke-belching busses, at the Manhattanites with their umbrellas and dogs; at the policemen and panhandlers.
He sprints up the steps of the Wilshire and locates room 234, as the writer of the letter has indicated, then pauses in the doorway. There is a bed surrounded by a white plastic curtain. Beyond is a smallish window, the shutter of which is open. Flowers and cards crowd the sill. A cool breeze blows in, ruffling the petals, rattling the paper. The plastic curtain flaps.
He locates its opening and peeks inside.
A man is there, sickly pale, jaundiced, cheeks sunk in, hair fallen out. His hazy eyes watch the ceiling from deep hallows. He has multiple IVs, the insertion points of which are purple, swollen, and is hooked up to an array of computers, plastic-covered appliances; saline bags. A book by Feschner lies turned over on his stomach, like a tent.
“Who’s there?” says the man, not turning his head. His breath comes and goes in ragged gasps.
“Nobody. I—I was just passing by. I’m a friend…of Christine’s.”
“You’re a friend…of Christine?”
“Yes. I—She wanted to give you something.”
“Christine?”
“Yes. I have it right here.”
Ragged gasps, coming and going.
“How is she?”
“She’s well. She plans to come. When she can.”
“That’s good. That’s good. What—what is it?”
“A letter.”
A train whistles somewhere outside the window; the plastic curtain rattles. “I can’t read it.”
“I can read it for you.”
“Okay.”
“Do you mind if I come in?”
“Please.”
He steps back from the curtain, looking for a chair, and locates a stool. He squeezes between the curtains, pulling the stool which grates over the floor, and sits by the man. The man rolls his eyes to look at him, lifting his hand which is burdened with the IVs, placing it on the cold, greasy, chromed handrail.
“Dearest Laurence,” O’Malley begins, holding the letter.
“You’re really a friend of Christine’s?”
O’Malley lays his hand over the man’s.
“Dearest Laurence,” he begins again.
He hands the check for $7,680 to the receptionist and exits the clinic, but instead of hailing a cab walks along the side of the building, toward the subway terminal. It’s getting cold. He walks with his head down, hands stuffed into his pockets. Rainwater runs along the drainpipes and courses down the gutters. Some sewer rats scurry past.
The breeze scoops up loose newspapers and swirls them in the air. He peers up to where the man's window would be, sees the curtains snapping. The wind picks up as he looks all around; at the looming, gray towers and the plumes of steam; at the rooftop reservoirs and chaotically angled chimney pots.
He descends into the terminal. The train doors open, and he boards as another roars past in the opposite direction.
(c) Copyright 2008 by Wayne K. Spitzer
About the Author
Wayne Spitzer is an author, filmmaker, and teacher of writing from the Pacific Northwest. His genre work includes an SF/horror novel, Flashback (Books in Motion/Classic Ventures, 1993), the movies Shadows in the Garden (Indie-Flix, 2007) and Monstersdotcom (Brimstone LLC, 2003), and numerous low-budget television programs and ad spots. His non-genre work has appeared in Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, subTerrain, Micro-film: The Magazine of Personal Cinema in Action, and Generation X National Journal. Wayne teaches creative writing at Airway Heights Corrections Center and Corbin Art Center in Spokane, Washington.
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