You wish you had third-world medical treatment, though.
Having been many times to hospitals in several 1st world countries AND several 3rd world countries, I do not find the former much better than the latter and the 10x-100x price markup is hard to ignore.
Ya, I'm guessing you would actually get better care in a country like Thailand, the Phillippinnes, India, or China. It might make more sense to retire in a LCOL place with good affordable healthcare rather than rely on Medicare. Heck, just get a good policy with evac to the USA if anything major happens you can't handle out of pocket (and at that point, it is probably cancer or something anyways). As I get older, it becomes more appealing to consider.
I had private insurance in China and it was wonderful. I could get an appointment quickly for whatever, the waiting room was really plushy, the deductibles were like 100-400 kuai, mostly the former. The biggest problem is that private insurance in China has a payout limit (around $100k/year for the policy Microsoft gave me)...which...well...whatever.
Hospitals in Thailand are actually pretty awesome. I received surgery in Thailand and spent a week in the hospital recovering.
The hospital was amazing and like nothing I’ve seen in Western Europe. Granted it was a private hospital but the people there were almost uniformly Thai.
Thailand is surprisingly economically strong. I don’t think it’s a third world country.
Fully agree, the quality of private healthcare in the third-world for common conditions and ailments could be even higher than the first. If they are not being stingy with treatment because everything costs a lot and they're understaffed, then they are thinking what to overtreat because it'll bring in the money. Health of course, is just a secondary concern
PS: Btw Rulopotamus-related? (he was a minor celebrity, loved professor in a certain college in some place of this galaxy)
Poor triage and dealing with a loved one suffering the consequences of having been placed on the wrong assembly line seem like very relatable parts of American health care.
Sadly, I was going to say the same thing. I wouldn't even blink an eye if someone local told me this story. I've heard way worse, and I don't know anyone who doesn't have at least one story like this.
You wish you had third-world medical treatment, though.
Having been many times to hospitals in several 1st world countries AND several 3rd world countries, I do not find the former much better than the latter and the 10x-100x price markup is hard to ignore.