Heart Surgery - Thailand Or Australia

[UbonOz]

My very good friend had a heart attack just over a week ago, he is 61 and lives in Hua Hin.

He needs surgery apparently as he only has approximately 40% of his heart functioning.

He will be seeing the heart doctor on 2 September to discuss his situation.

He has thought about going to Australia for the surgery but is unsure if he will be covered by Medicare as has lived in Thailand approximately five years.

I know there are good and bad doctors anywhere, it is difficult to know what decision to make.

Does anybody have any knowledge of the best place to be treated?

Thanks for any advice.

[namoi]

mate i don`t know about TH, i had a tripple by-pass and an ICD, (implanted cardaic device) 3 years ago at Prince Charles Hospital here in Brisbane, they are absolutley brilliant, in my humble opinion anyway, i wake up alive and happy everyday, feel great, the weight is a problem but i am still here...... the surgon i had was Dr. Clarke a very nice and down to earth bloke.......

Edited August 23, 2012 by namoi

[Sheryl]

in Thailand, if funds are limited then Rajaithi (government hospital) is best but there is a lot of red tape involved in getting admitted. from the sounds of things he should not delay.

Bumrungrad is fine, but expensive.

I can't advise re coverage in Australia but this thread may help

[cheeryble]

in Thailand, if funds are limited then Rajaithi (government hospital) is best but there is a lot of red tape involved in getting admitted. from the sounds of things he should not delay.

Bumrungrad is fine, but expensive.

I can't advise re coverage in Australia but this thread may help

Without wishing to take attention away from the OP's very important question, this is the sort of question which will come up again and again.

I personally, now 63, bike and/or swim daily and seemingly fit though with high lipid levels, decided some years ago to not insure, you might say self insure, by keeping funds available for treatment. This was partly based on the fact that if big expensive things came up......ie cancer or heart.....if it wasn't utterly urgent I would quite likely be able to get back and get treated in the UK where after all I paid into the system during my healthy years.

Things seem to be tightening up in the UK, so Sheryl I'd be very interested to know about relative costs and quality between your suggested Rajaithi and Bumrungrad.

What for instance would be ballpark figures for cost for two very expensive items:

1. Triple bypass and all extras

2. Full blown course of chemo/radio

I'm sure a best guess at (1) would help the OP and I would certainly appreciate it. Good medical insurance is a big monthly bill and I have no desire to pay for those who get insured specially when they need treatment....I've seen it happen.....or take every med offered because it's "paid for". I have however mentally put aside 2million baht for my lifetime healthcare, which money can still be invested as long as it's available when needed.

Is this 2m baht realistic or wildly optimistic for a lifetime of healthcare? Bear in mind I am selective about treatment, for example had a little piece taken out of my tongue recently at a local doctor's surgery for about a fifth the price of a private hospital and done beautifully. If I get a prescription at hospital I often take it outside for filling, after removing obviously overprescribed items, and save a lot. Another example I am holdng off on hearing aids and it's really not too big a deal, only a real problem in noisy public places. This carefullness with costs will be applicable to some health issues, sometimes it may not. It's a spin of a wheel.

Thanks again for your presence on this forum Sheryl, and hope again this will help the OP rather than distract from his question.....

Edited August 27, 2012 by cheeryble

[lopburi3]

Bumrungrad has an average price of many procedures section available on there web site you might want to check for some indication of what the expensive private hospitals are likely to charge (suspect most will be near that range).

[Kalbo]

in Thailand, if funds are limited then Rajaithi (government hospital) is best but there is a lot of red tape involved in getting admitted. from the sounds of things he should not delay.

Bumrungrad is fine, but expensive.

I can't advise re coverage in Australia but this thread may help http://www.thaivisa....ia#entry5234096

Without wishing to take attention away from the OP's very important question, this is the sort of question which will come up again and again.

I personally, now 63, bike and/or swim daily and seemingly fit though with high lipid levels, decided some years ago to not insure, you might say self insure, by keeping funds available for treatment. This was partly based on the fact that if big expensive things came up......ie cancer or heart.....if it wasn't utterly urgent I would quite likely be able to get back and get treated in the UK where after all I paid into the system during my healthy years.

Things seem to be tightening up in the UK, so Sheryl I'd be very interested to know about relative costs and quality between your suggested Rajaithi and Bumrungrad.

What for instance would be ballpark figures for cost for two very expensive items:

1. Triple bypass and all extras

2. Full blown course of chemo/radio

I'm sure a best guess at (1) would help the OP and I would certainly appreciate it. Good medical insurance is a big monthly bill and I have no desire to pay for those who get insured specially when they need treatment....I've seen it happen.....or take every med offered because it's "paid for". I have however mentally put aside 2million baht for my lifetime healthcare, which money can still be invested as long as it's available when needed.

Is this 2m baht realistic or wildly optimistic for a lifetime of healthcare? Bear in mind I am selective about treatment, for example had a little piece taken out of my tongue recently at a local doctor's surgery for about a fifth the price of a private hospital and done beautifully. If I get a prescription at hospital I often take it outside for filling, after removing obviously overprescribed items, and save a lot. Another example I am holdng off on hearing aids and it's really not too big a deal, only a real problem in noisy public places. This carefullness with costs will be applicable to some health issues, sometimes it may not. It's a spin of a wheel.

Thanks again for your presence on this forum Sheryl, and hope again this will help the OP rather than distract from his question.....

I'd just like to squeeze something in here, if I may. I am 45 years old, seemingly very fit, weight training jogging a lot. However, last monday, as I was out jogging,

the inevitable happened and the paving stone I stepped on slipped away, causing 2 bones in my foot to break. To cut a long story short, I was taken to a nearby hospital where X-rays showed clean breaks, not needing pinning, and so I was plastered up and sent on my way with a pair of crutches that looked as if they'd survived World War I. I am very heavily insured, so price wasn't an issue (for what it's worth, the whole shebang cost a tad over B6,000, including tramadol and some anti-inflammatory drug). The point I'm trying to make is that the unthinkable sometimes does happen, and my fracture could have been a lot worse, requiring an operation and/or a few days in hospital, which would have raised the costs considerably. Something unexpected like this could very easily take a large chunk out of your B2 million you've set aside, leaving you with a lot less coverage. Lastly, my medical costs were cheap because I went to a local hospital, where they speak almost no English and this is also something that many Westerners are not able to deal with. My advice, for what it's worth...... Get some insurance, even if it's only Accident Coverage.

Edited August 27, 2012 by Kalbo

[tig28]

Hi UbonOz

Hope your friend is progressing OK. If he is still in limbo re treatment here or back in Oz I would suggest that he ascertain his current status with Medicare. Is his Medicare card still current?? (I think the period of validity is 10 years) If it is out of date -- does he still recieve mail at the address Medicare has for him??

With a lot of effort these matters can be sorted out on line at:

http://www.humanserv...online-services

To Kalbo

Like you I "self insure" . I do this as I cannot obtain health insurance in Thailand. A couple of years ago I suffered sudden extremely low blood pressure.

I traveled to Bangkok to BNH where I had previously undergone one of their full "heart checkups" --- I returned to the same cardiologist -- went into ICU for 4 nights -- where they carried out tests and stabilized my BP. A CAT scan revealed a Thoracic Aortic dissection requiring prompt surgery.

Discussions between the Thai Cardiologist and a Surgeon in Oz helped me decide to take a punt and return to Oz for surgery.

Only some months later after recovery did I look at the BNH bill --- the treatment there was excellent but necessarily limited. Yes .... in ICU and significant drugs to stabilize BP and one CAT scan ... but no aggressive treatment. The cost for the 4 nights was over 190,000 Bt.

The cost of the CAT scan was more than double that of the same scan in a private hospital in OZ. (there I had several) and aggressive treatment in ICU was also significantly cheaper than BNH.

The costs in Oz I mention were prior to Medicare and private insurance involvement.

My plans to self insure using private hospitals here need revision. I dread to imagine what the costs here would have been had I had the surgery in BNH.

[UbonOz]

Thanks to everybody for their comments.

I will send this link to him, he can then make a decision.

I did read the Medicare website and it says you are not entitled if you have been a non-resident for more than five years.

I hope I read it correctly.

[Kalbo]

Hi UbonOz

Hope your friend is progressing OK. If he is still in limbo re treatment here or back in Oz I would suggest that he ascertain his current status with Medicare. Is his Medicare card still current?? (I think the period of validity is 10 years) If it is out of date -- does he still recieve mail at the address Medicare has for him??

With a lot of effort these matters can be sorted out on line at:

http://www.humanserv...online-services

To Kalbo

Like you I "self insure" . I do this as I cannot obtain health insurance in Thailand. A couple of years ago I suffered sudden extremely low blood pressure.

I traveled to Bangkok to BNH where I had previously undergone one of their full "heart checkups" --- I returned to the same cardiologist -- went into ICU for 4 nights -- where they carried out tests and stabilized my BP. A CAT scan revealed a Thoracic Aortic dissection requiring prompt surgery.

Discussions between the Thai Cardiologist and a Surgeon in Oz helped me decide to take a punt and return to Oz for surgery.

Only some months later after recovery did I look at the BNH bill --- the treatment there was excellent but necessarily limited. Yes .... in ICU and significant drugs to stabilize BP and one CAT scan ... but no aggressive treatment. The cost for the 4 nights was over 190,000 Bt.

The cost of the CAT scan was more than double that of the same scan in a private hospital in OZ. (there I had several) and aggressive treatment in ICU was also significantly cheaper than BNH.

The costs in Oz I mention were prior to Medicare and private insurance involvement.

My plans to self insure using private hospitals here need revision. I dread to imagine what the costs here would have been had I had the surgery in BNH.

Tig, I think you've got me confused with the other bloke. I definitely do NOT self-insure, for reasons I gave above, which more or less correspond to what you've written.

[Sheryl]

2 million lifetime is indeed too little, though if you have the option of returning to your home country for free treatment then it may be OK.

A single hospitalization in a private hospital can easily exceed 2 million baht if major surgery and a prolonged ICU stay are required. Even in a government hospital it is possible to exceed ! million in a single hospitalization and I have seen people do it.

And prices aren't going anywhere but further up.

One option to consider is a policy which provides for medical evacuation to your home country only as these may be more liberal in terms of covering people with pre-existing problems. Medical evacuation (i.e. assistance getting back if you are not able to do so on your own unaccompanied0 can be very, very costly.