Paying for surgeries 100% cash

[newarrior]

I'd love to hear from anyone who is a "cashie" i.e. funded their valve replacement with 100% cash especially if living overseas. I love living overseas but insurance here doesn't cover pre existing conditions i.e. valve issues. I have thought of doing the surgery stateside; renting something solo for a few months rusing back when condition get severe. I have no home or family in the USA and am single. My condition is moderate so may be many years away but who knows....Diagnosed at 56 yo last year with calcified aortic stenosis..Also have LVH and high genetic heart attack risk...2nd echo in May revealed very slow progression year over year and treadmill test showed my heart and valves still kicking ass and my heart working at or above average for my age group..My doctor is going to do the echoes every 6 months and the treadmills every year....My weight, blood pressure, triglycerides, A1c, cholesterol, pulse, diet, stress test, ability to exercise, energy, EKG's etc all outstanding....Adopted a low fat vegan diet, exercise like mad, never drink, meditate, take statins, bp meds, aspirin, K2 etc...I'd rather die early in Thailand and pay cash for surgeries here than live in the USA again

 

[carolinemc]

I'd love to hear from anyone who is a "cashie" i.e. funded their valve replacement with 100% cash especially if living overseas. I love living overseas but insurance here doesn't cover pre existing conditions i.e. valve issues. I have thought of doing the surgery stateside; renting something solo for a few months rusing back when condition get severe. I have no home or family in the USA and am single. My condition is moderate so may be many years away but who knows....Diagnosed at 56 yo last year with calcified aortic stenosis..Also have LVH and high genetic heart attack risk...2nd echo in May revealed very slow progression year over year and treadmill test showed my heart and valves still kicking ass and my heart working at or above average for my age group..My doctor is going to do the echoes every 6 months and the treadmills every year....My weight, blood pressure, triglycerides, A1c, cholesterol, pulse, diet, stress test, ability to exercise, energy, EKG's etc all outstanding....Adopted a low fat vegan diet, exercise like mad, never drink, meditate, take statins, bp meds, aspirin, K2 etc...I'd rather die early in Thailand and pay cash for surgeries here than live in the USA again

In the USA, it is usually covered by Insurance, unless you are rich enough to pay in cash or check. It is good to look ahead at all options available. It may take time and in USA, hospital costs rise every year, surgeries like OPH is very high cost. You keep doing your research and keep everything checked. Good luck in your research.

 

[newarrior]

Thanks..I still have insurance in California...I just forwarded my California insurance info to my best hospital in Thailand which has a strong international presence...Thai private hospitals, the better ones, are known globally and have international insurance departments

 

[newarrior]

In the USA, it is usually covered by Insurance, unless you are rich enough to pay in cash or check. It is good to look ahead at all options available. It may take time and in USA, hospital costs rise every year, surgeries like OPH is very high cost. You keep doing your research and keep everything checked. Good luck in your research.

Thinking of just flying back to the USA when time is needed for surgery

 

[Freebird]

Not sure what the cash price is but the bills from my August surgery are starting to arrive, including the big one. Basically it’s a $300,000 surgery. I am so grateful to the ACA and my max out of pocket limit!

 

[catwoman]

I'd love to hear from anyone who is a "cashie" i.e. funded their valve replacement with 100% cash especially if living overseas. I love living overseas but insurance here doesn't cover pre existing conditions i.e. valve issues. I have thought of doing the surgery stateside; renting something solo for a few months rusing back when condition get severe. I have no home or family in the USA and am single. My condition is moderate so may be many years away but who knows....Diagnosed at 56 yo last year with calcified aortic stenosis..Also have LVH and high genetic heart attack risk...2nd echo in May revealed very slow progression year over year and treadmill test showed my heart and valves still kicking ass and my heart working at or above average for my age group..My doctor is going to do the echoes every 6 months and the treadmills every year....My weight, blood pressure, triglycerides, A1c, cholesterol, pulse, diet, stress test, ability to exercise, energy, EKG's etc all outstanding....Adopted a low fat vegan diet, exercise like mad, never drink, meditate, take statins, bp meds, aspirin, K2 etc...I'd rather die early in Thailand and pay cash for surgeries here than live in the USA again

I assume you are a U.S. citizen. Would you be enrolling in Medicare at age 65? (Please, no comments about stability of funding for Medicare or Social Security) If so, you may want to investigate having surgery in the U.S. (and have a Medicare Advantage plan vs. Original Medicare and supplemental). However, Original Medicare does not cover most, if not any, procedures done outside the U.S. (There are some geographic exceptions along the US-Canada border and perhaps the US-Mexico border.)
I have several ex-pat friends living in Thailand, Finland and elsewhere in Europe who are 65 or over. The one in Thailand has been in an ICU for pneumonia; I do not know what type of medical coverage he is using there.

But, in short, planning ahead and having several contingencies is best. Valves can go downhill PDQ. Mine did.

 

[vitdoc]

The thing about insurance is that the insurance companies have an agreement with the hospitals and physicians about rates. If you don't have insurance there is no agreement and the rates can be anything. When a patient sees the bills these are not usually the agreed upon rates but whatever the hospitals want to put down. So a $300,000 bill that you see may actually have been $75,000 in real dollars. The other issue with not having insurance is that if something happens that requires say another operation then the cost could double. So having insurance is more important than just thinking it pays for things.

 

[newarrior]

I am a USA Citizen, 57 years old, living in Thailand no desire to live in the USA again

 

[newarrior]

The thing about insurance is that the insurance companies have an agreement with the hospitals and physicians about rates. If you don't have insurance there is no agreement and the rates can be anything. When a patient sees the bills these are not usually the agreed upon rates but whatever the hospitals want to put down. So a $300,000 bill that you see may actually have been $75,000 in real dollars. The other issue with not having insurance is that if something happens that requires say another operation then the cost could double. So having insurance is more important than just thinking it pays for things.

I live in Asia insurance does not cover pre existing conditions here

 

[newarrior]

I assume you are a U.S. citizen. Would you be enrolling in Medicare at age 65? (Please, no comments about stability of funding for Medicare or Social Security) If so, you may want to investigate having surgery in the U.S. (and have a Medicare Advantage plan vs. Original Medicare and supplemental). However, Original Medicare does not cover most, if not any, procedures done outside the U.S. (There are some geographic exceptions along the US-Canada border and perhaps the US-Mexico border.)
I have several ex-pat friends living in Thailand, Finland and elsewhere in Europe who are 65 or over. The one in Thailand has been in an ICU for pneumonia; I do not know what type of medical coverage he is using there.

But, in short, planning ahead and having several contingencies is best. Valves can go downhill PDQ. Mine did.

I am from USA, live in Thailand insurance does not cover pre existing conditions...I am 57

 

[newarrior]

I assume you are a U.S. citizen. Would you be enrolling in Medicare at age 65? (Please, no comments about stability of funding for Medicare or Social Security) If so, you may want to investigate having surgery in the U.S. (and have a Medicare Advantage plan vs. Original Medicare and supplemental). However, Original Medicare does not cover most, if not any, procedures done outside the U.S. (There are some geographic exceptions along the US-Canada border and perhaps the US-Mexico border.)
I have several ex-pat friends living in Thailand, Finland and elsewhere in Europe who are 65 or over. The one in Thailand has been in an ICU for pneumonia; I do not know what type of medical coverage he is using there.

But, in short, planning ahead and having several contingencies is best. Valves can go downhill PDQ. Mine did.

I am 57 so 65 a ways off...I have Medi-cal through the state of California

 

[newarrior]

Not sure what the cash price is but the bills from my August surgery are starting to arrive, including the big one. Basically it’s a $300,000 surgery. I am so grateful to the ACA and my max out of pocket limit!

I live in Asia so ACA does not apply

 

[newarrior]

Liv

In the USA, it is usually covered by Insurance, unless you are rich enough to pay in cash or check. It is good to look ahead at all options available. It may take time and in USA, hospital costs rise every year, surgeries like OPH is very high cost. You keep doing your research and keep everything checked. Good luck in your research.
[/QUOTE

I live in Asia

 

[Freebird]

Newarrior, given the costs of the surgery in the US, I wonder what the cash price might be in Thailand. Maybe that's a better option for you?

 

[vitdoc]

Move to the UK.

 

[newarrior]

I am an American

 

[newarrior]

Cheaper in Thailand but not covered by health insurance...Cheaper if I need homecare as one can hire a Filipina or Thai helper cheaply

 

[newarrior]

us citizen

 

[AZ Don]

My valve sparing aortic aneurysm (root & ascending) repair was in 2013 at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ. Out of curiosity I went through the bills at one point and it was roughly $100,000. My insurer, UnitedHealthCare got a 33% discount across the board. I paid nothing out of pocket due to hitting my out of pocket max from a different issue earlier that year.

From what I understand this is probably very much on the low end of what these can cost. My surgery was expected to take 5 hours and was completed in about 3 which I'm sure saved some $, as well as having no complications.

 

[rich01]

If it takes several years before you require surgery, TAVR may be an option. It would be substantially less expensive.