[chanon]

I live in a developing country ... Thailand.

Reading things like this, stories in this thread, and about how people are avoiding seeing the doctor because they're afraid of the bills ... makes me realize in some ways Thai people actually have a higher quality of life than many in US in this respect.

Costs are order of magnitude(s) lower. A night in the hospital is typically 5,000-10,000 baht or $166-$333. And the quality of care is at a good standard .. so much so that Thailand has become a Medical Tourism destination:

https://www.health-tourism.com/thailand-medical-tourism/

If you have some money, you can pay more for faster service and more attentive care at more expensive private hospitals.

And if you can't pay, you are still covered by Thailand's Universal Healthcare:

"What Thailand can teach the world about universal healthcare" https://www.theguardian.com/health-revolution/2016/may/24/th...

"Thailand: At the forefront of Universal Health Coverage" https://medium.com/health-for-all/thailand-at-the-forefront-...

Thailand is a relatively poor country, but we are still able to do this. In the US, I guess some people would rather die than admit needing help from the government ... or trying to clamp down on healthcare costs cause it would be too much 'regulation'?

[m101]

Sounds like people should take some time off work and fly to Thailand for treatment. Any reason why there isn't more medical tourism?

They do this in the UK for getting dental treatment in Eastern Europe where fillings can cost €20 each.

[javajosh]

Well, one reason people don't become medical tourists are concerns about quality. Americans in particular are still convinced, despite ample evidence to the contrary, that our medical system is the highest quality in the world - and that this justifies the costs.

I believe this is false. Healthcare quality is basically the same in all first-world countries, the only difference is cost structure. (My wife had a c-section in Germany and our total cost was about 100 euros for an optional private room.)

[chronial]

> Healthcare quality is basically the same in all first-world countries

While this statement is correct, my understanding is that there are still small quality differences, and the US is in fact the word leader in quality. Thinking about it, this also makes sense – if you are willing to pay extreme amounts to doctors, you should also see at least some improvements in quality.

But we are talking something like <1% better quality for +100% the cost, so this is clearly not worth it. But if I was a billionaire with a difficult disease, I would definitely at least consider going to the US for treatment.