It takes every single ounce of willpower I have when I am talking to people on the phone who are having serious problems because of the way our medical system is set up in the US not to say, “Remember this experience when you vote!” I love my job so I don’t say that, but I really want to every single day.
Yes; though I’ll have any further surgery (knock-on-wood) in Thailand to save airfare. The $8500 I paid was foreigner price – a Thai national would have paid less, though I don’t know how much less. (BTW, two surgeons attended my angioplasty, both speaking excellent English, a Thai and an Indian (Sikh?).)
Say, Siam Sam, maybe we should start a Yellow-shirt vs Red-shirt thread. 
Thanks for all the responses.
I’m currently looking into some high deductible and catastrophic only plans. It seems that If I don’t mind having to shell out 10 k, I could get full coverage for as little as 39.00 a month. The problem is that most of these plans screw me the same way having no insurance would. Since Nothing is ever medically wrong with me, I’d end up paying out of pocket for basically all my care (just like I do now :mad: ) Still I would be paying a lot less to those jerks every month and that would be some consolation.
For my shoulder surgeries, I used Chulalongkorn University Hospital. It’s the main teaching hospital, and many if not most of the doctors working in the five-star hospitals like Bumrungrad (which is a rip-off) and (the much better) Samitivej and BNH Hospitals work there also. Everyone is charged equal rates at Chula.
I use BNH, and my shoulder doctor worked both there and at Chula. BNH wanted me to pay 400,000 baht, which is around US$10,000 or $12,000, but my insurance company would pay no more than 100,000 baht. Chula charged me about 80,000 baht total, which was completely covered by insurance, and it was … the same doctor. The downside is the doctor is usually the only one who speaks English, so good luck communicating with anyone else there if you don’t speak Thai or have a Thai speaker at hand.
Bumrungrad is my pet peeve. I cannot stand that place. They’re great if nothing goes wrong, but the horror stories I’ve heard! From people I’ve personally known and even in the press. I myself had a very bad experience with an eye doctor, but complaints are met with stony silence; they’re only interested in praise. There’s even a standing reward of $1 million dollars from a New York father to anyone who can shed some light on why his son mysteriously died at Bumrungrad. (Many of the son’s records somehow went missing.) No, believe me, you’re much better off with Samitivej or BNH.
Do you have any Urgent Care facilities in your area? I’m not sure what they charge, but you can get like, a broken bone set there, x-rays, etc, for a MUCH lower cost than at a hospital, in an emergency. It’s worth it to research those, and keep their #'s/location handy for a time in a real emergency. Also, things like vaccines can be found for free or reduced cost at your county’s health care department. CVS’s Minute Clinic has whole brochures and such devoted to how much routine things cost - strep throat analysis and prescription is like $50, vaccines are $20-60, routine physical is like $70, and so on. They can write scripts for a host of common illnesses, like strep, ear infections, etc.
You can cobble together some really reasonable care this way, I know friends who do so along with carrying a high deductible but complete policy.
Good luck, I’m really glad you decided not to totally go without 
I meet more and more Americans coming here to Manila for medical tourism. Seems its mainly dental or cosmetic enhancements at the moment. Crowns and implants at a good clinic cost around $120-$250, and two young women were here for Breast augmentation at $3000 at the top Belomed cosmetic clinic after their mum’s successful op the year before. I regularly get a abdominal CAT scan ($200 all inclusive of consultations etc) for follow up post cancer care.
If you could get some catastrophic cover for the US, and would consider overseas treatment for other conditions then a savings plan may be the way forward.
I rent out apartments short term for holiday makers but am seriously considering moving my emphasis towards medical tourists.
One more vote for “at least get catastrophic coverage”. A high-deductible plan would be even better.
Another benefit of having some insurance, as a few other posters have alluded to, is that the fact you have some insurance will mean that you’re less likely to be turned away by certain doctors or hospitals. And, the prices you’ll get charged are very likely to be lower…your insurance company (particularly if you go with a bigger name) will have negotiated rates with the hospitals and doctors, and those rates are likely to be much lower than if you had to pay the “rack rates”.
It helps if you think about health insurance more like auto insurance or life insurance: if you’re lucky, it’s something you pay for which you never need…but, if you’re unlucky, you’re going to be very happy that you have it.
If that $39 per month gets you some sort of coverage it is worth it. Not only will it put you in a position where doctors are far less likely to turn you away when you walk in the door but it also means that your out of pocket costs should cap out at 10k. If you discover a tumor that 10k will be a fraction of the total cost of your care. Try to think of it as your bear mauling coverage if you need to so that you can sleep well at night knowing that if a bear breaks into your home and attacks you that you will be admitted for medical care and your financial responsibility is limited.
Bolding mine.
I think what you mean to say is “nothing ever HAS been medically wrong with me”. As you cannot predict the future, saying you will never need medical insurance is as ridiculous as saying you’ll never need auto insurance, since you’ve never been in an accident and are a good driver.
Look, it’s readily apparent that money is the driving factor in your decision. Fine. If you want to play the odds, go ahead. Just don’t try and convince yourself that you’re magically free of risk just because nothing’s ever happened before.
Alternately, move up here to Canada! We’re a bunch of dirty socialists, but we’re friendly, and bears hardly ever break into our igloos!