Medical cost and issues in China

[Hunter68]

Shenyang is not as cold as Harbin in Winter and very nice in the summer.

 

One thing I forgot to mention. Is that doctors in China are use to getting tips. And the care they give you is sometime based on the tip you give.

[danb]

Hunter68, Tips? I haven't heard that one before. Any idea how much is the going rate?

 

I have a friend whose Mother needed to see a specialist. I guess he is one of the best in Beijing. He is a TCM type of doctor, who is very much in demand and supposing it is very difficult to get an appointment with. My friend was able to arrange a meeting with this doctor and was able to convince him to see her Mother in the next few days. Part of my friend's Mother prescription was some type of herbs. It was a type of leafy dark green herb/vegetable. I think they were told to make some type of broth out of it. The herb was expensive. Hundred and Hundred of US dollars. Her condition did improve. It took some time but she did get better. i am very glad for that. Danb

[tsap seui]

Yep, if you get seriously ill or need a procedure you'd better have some money on hand. I don't say this in a negative way about the Chinese, it is what it is and it has been that way a long time, but call it a bribe, tip, whatever you need to call it. Some money had better change hands. In our family's case it also took "knowing someone".

 

I'm not trying to be critical of the Chinese. I had already discussed health issues and how things worked in Chinese hospitals with my wife as I was preparing myself to move to Fushun to live with my wife should the State Department play their insidious game with she and our son again at her second interview. Knowing I would most likely lose years off of my life to live permanently in China to be with my wife, I came to the conclusion that a few years with my wife was infinitely better than years of life without her. And, who knows, those herbs may well have extended my life.....well worth the chance to live with her than without.

 

Good luck to all.

 

tsap seui

[Fu Lai]

Would someone like to share info on how the cost of medical in the USA is soooooo expensive? A low deductible might be because you pay so much for insurance in the first place? No industrialized nation in the world runs a for-profit system like the USA does at such high costs.

[Doug]

Well for references:

 

I am not expert on this, but my wife seems to be, haha.............. I think it is very wise to find the local sports training center in your nearest large city, or especially if it is the center for the province teams. Or go to the university closest and get to know the coaches. I'll bet they have a doctor or more on staff that is probably the best in the area for sports med. Get to know those doctors. Fen's #1 doctor takes patients privately because he has such a reputation for all joints. He is working with her aged knee injured and had surgery when she was a pro player. She was in a lot of pain even at the hospital they use, until she went to him. Her center knows who the doctors are to perform various surgeries, including an emergency appendix removal for one of her girls. Stuck in a small town game they risked traveling by train back to their city to a specific hospital. One player on the Province team will be going to Beijing for knee surgery. Only the best doctors are used...........so no one ends up like Jesse, which fen feels so bad for. Had she met him before his surgery, she would have sent him to a hospital that does that procedure constantly and everything heels properly.

 

If your wife and her friends don't know then I strongly urge you to get to know these coaches and doctors, especially if a Province or National team is involved. I bet they know or have heard, or will make calls for you to find a good doc for major illnesses and etc.

[danb]

Hello, Recently, there have been several articles on the internet about Chinese doctors and bribery. They say that bribery can be an integral part of the medical hospital system in China. Here is a link to one article from MSN:

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52557813/ns/health-health_care/t/bribery-serves-life-support-chinese-hospitals/#.UfE8M9I3uSo

 

There are some interesting info given in the article. One thing that it mentioned is that:

 

"A doctor fresh out of medical school in Beijing earns about 3,000 yuan ($490) a month including bonuses -- roughly the same as a taxi driver. A doctor with 10 years experience makes around 10,000 yuan a month....."

 

 

 

and goes on to say that:

 

"One Chinese doctor who used to hold a senior position at a prominent hospital in Beijing said 80 percent of his income came from bribes. Without it, he would have earned less than $600 a month, said the doctor...."

 

It is an interesting article. It also talks about some of the cost for medical care in China. I guess these articles are being running now in part to the European pharmaceutical GKS's problems in China. DanB

 

PS here is a link to another similar article that I found on BBC:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23408016

[NickF]

Last week ChunMei had a comprehensive teeth cleaning as the first part of her US dental care. Total cost to me after insurance, $871. That did include laser treatrment for her advanced gum disease.

 

A couple of weeks before that she'd been given two detailed exams by two different dentists about what work she absolutely had to have done. Estimates from the two averaged between $17,000 and $18,000 after insurance. She needs five extractions and implants for each of them because she has so much bone loss from infection.

 

She doesn't want me to spend that much money on her. Says if I send her to China with $5,000 she can get the same work done there.

What I don't know is how we can ensure that what she gets done there is done well. She's had problems with poor dental work in the past, and if it goes bad when she comes home afterward I could still end up spending the money to get it repaired.

 

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? The dentists here says that if she gets implants here they would wait six months for healing to complete before they build and install the caps on the implanted posts. ChunMei says that in China they only wait two months. That worries me.

[credzba]

we have a Chinese dentist here in America.

i needed an implant an she suggested China because she knows we visit often.

our dentist suggestions is go to Shanghai or a major city, and get a reliable dentist .

[Randy W]

Yes - there is good dental care available here. I know where I would go in Yulin or Nanning. It's a matter of finding the right dentist. I'm not sure what to tell you about the chances of that happening, though.

[Doug]

NickF, my first Chinese wife had a high price tag and issues. At first she even wanted the implants. BUT...We simply got them cleaned real well (deep scaling, more than once, and this was the key to finding a dentist who was willing to just see if they could work it without all the implants) and all cavities fixed and gave it some time with regular cleaning. Everything improved and of course the cleaning really made her teeth whitter, and so far none of the dingy brown came back. She never got the implants and for some reason all that bone loss is not showing so much now, byt that I mean the lower part of the teeth exposed. It made no sense to me to cut away some of the gums. In fact I want to say her gums improved so much it now covers a lot of the ugly she had in there.

 

Now her daughter was full of infection in the mouth and after getting rid of that and then removing and bridging some silver teeth until her perm came in WOW what a dif. Her constant head colds cleared up and she was less angry as a 7 yr old. Just overall health improved. It was dramatic.

[Doug]

Hello, Recently, there have been several articles on the internet about Chinese doctors and bribery. They say that bribery can be an integral part of the medical hospital system in China. Here is a link to one article from MSN:

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52557813/ns/health-health_care/t/bribery-serves-life-support-chinese-hospitals/#.UfE8M9I3uSo

 

There are some interesting info given in the article. One thing that it mentioned is that:

 

"A doctor fresh out of medical school in Beijing earns about 3,000 yuan ($490) a month including bonuses -- roughly the same as a taxi driver. A doctor with 10 years experience makes around 10,000 yuan a month....."

 

 

 

and goes on to say that:

 

"One Chinese doctor who used to hold a senior position at a prominent hospital in Beijing said 80 percent of his income came from bribes. Without it, he would have earned less than $600 a month, said the doctor...."

 

It is an interesting article. It also talks about some of the cost for medical care in China. I guess these articles are being running now in part to the European pharmaceutical GKS's problems in China. DanB

 

PS here is a link to another similar article that I found on BBC:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23408016

Yep, and now my wife needs ACL rework along with the Province team girl. They will do it together. Her company (sports training base) will get them bumped ahead of the line rather than wait the year for the best doctor in Beijing. And where ever it is they will go, does take care of them in the room, food & etc. I voluntereed after reading this thread, but I don't need to worry, so I am told. Will they pay him extra? Probably, I will have to ask. I do know her team doctor takes on private patients and gets paid. I think the key is finding out who is a good doctor and which hospital is the best for your area.

 

Best advice to a newby... marry a coach

Edited July 25, 2013 by Doug (see edit history)

[Dennis143]

I don't know if I would call in bribery, but simply cash payments for better or best service.

 

Here's another anecdotal experience...

 

A good friend of ours husband was to undergo abdominal surgery to remove a tumor at the local hospital that's located in the heart of the Chinese community.

You can just look at the doctor's surnames and get an idea: http://www.garfieldmedicalcenter.com/physician_search.php?osCsid=b02b5924ee9b3ffaebcb44eb501e1906

 

Anyway, Leiqin and I decided we would not let our friend sit alone waiting during the surgery, so we sat with her. At about an hour or so into the surgery a nurse popped her head into the waiting room and told the wife that the doctor would like to speak with her. When she returned, she told us that she needed to go home and get more cash so the doctor could finish.

 

I am like What??? That is extortion. He can't tell someone to cough up more cash or.... So, she went home. Got the cash and gave it to the nurse.

 

I learned later was that this was discussed beforehand and that the doctor would need to open her husband up before he could give a firm price. And, this is common practice among physicians and patients within the US Chinese community. The patients do not have insurance, but usually have cash stashed somewhere for these emergencies. The doctors essentially are renting the operating room facility and have their fixed costs, so the same practice in China is continued here. Of course, I am sure the doctors declare every cent on the taxes.

[NickF]

NickF, my first Chinese wife had a high price tag and issues. At first she even wanted the implants. BUT...We simply got them cleaned real well (deep scaling, more than once, and this was the key to finding a dentist who was willing to just see if they could work it without all the implants) and all cavities fixed and gave it some time with regular cleaning. Everything improved and of course the cleaning really made her teeth whitter, and so far none of the dingy brown came back. She never got the implants and for some reason all that bone loss is not showing so much now, byt that I mean the lower part of the teeth exposed. It made no sense to me to cut away some of the gums. In fact I want to say her gums improved so much it now covers a lot of the ugly she had in there.

 

Now her daughter was full of infection in the mouth and after getting rid of that and then removing and bridging some silver teeth until her perm came in WOW what a dif. Her constant head colds cleared up and she was less angry as a 7 yr old. Just overall health improved. It was dramatic.

Doug, thanks for your comments. ChunMei's hoping that the deep cleaning is going to fix most of her problems, and on 21 August she's having another evaluation to see how much the cleaning helped. Sounds like she and your ex-wife have similar problems, and maybe we'll have the same results. Both the dentists who looked at her felt that at least some implants would provide the best solution because that would give them something to attach a partial plate to. The other major option they both offered was a complete extraction of all of her teeth, and full dentures, which she is less than enthusiastic about, as am I.

 

Hopefully there's something in between, but we'll know more next exam.

[Doug]

 

NickF, my first Chinese wife had a high price tag and issues. At first she even wanted the implants. BUT...We simply got them cleaned real well (deep scaling, more than once, and this was the key to finding a dentist who was willing to just see if they could work it without all the implants) and all cavities fixed and gave it some time with regular cleaning. Everything improved and of course the cleaning really made her teeth whitter, and so far none of the dingy brown came back. She never got the implants and for some reason all that bone loss is not showing so much now, byt that I mean the lower part of the teeth exposed. It made no sense to me to cut away some of the gums. In fact I want to say her gums improved so much it now covers a lot of the ugly she had in there.

 

Now her daughter was full of infection in the mouth and after getting rid of that and then removing and bridging some silver teeth until her perm came in WOW what a dif. Her constant head colds cleared up and she was less angry as a 7 yr old. Just overall health improved. It was dramatic.

Doug, thanks for your comments. ChunMei's hoping that the deep cleaning is going to fix most of her problems, and on 21 August she's having another evaluation to see how much the cleaning helped. Sounds like she and your ex-wife have similar problems, and maybe we'll have the same results. Both the dentists who looked at her felt that at least some implants would provide the best solution because that would give them something to attach a partial plate to. The other major option they both offered was a complete extraction of all of her teeth, and full dentures, which she is less than enthusiastic about, as am I.

 

Hopefully there's something in between, but we'll know more next exam.

 

Yes, she was wanting the implants without waiting. After a year of messing with this she decided things were OK. Though we went for evaluations, we never had her gums trimmed either or work done in those guys office, just dentist offices.

 

Dennis I agree. It really isn't a bribe in many of their eyes. I erased some of my comments before posting yesterday. It is every day normal business. ...Besides, in the USA when in a surgery or other doctor visits many times it cost more than some original quote. They may not stop and ask for more money, but WILL add the extra to the bill, which you get hit with later or when leaving. You can't even really get a quote on proceedures in the USA usually.

[NickF]

Well, ChunMei had the first of her dental surgeries three weeks ago. Three hours worth, with 3 extractions and bone grafts to her lower left periodontal arch to provide a foundation for the implants. Cost to this point, $10,980. After surgery she was just fine. Told me she didn't need the pain medication; she is a strong lady.

 

That lasted about three hours. After the anesthetic wore off she was more than willing to take it. She went to bed and didn't get up until the following afternoon. So for the past three weeks she's been complaining about pain, pus at the surgical site, and of course everything is my fault. She developed an infection because she didn't want to take the antibiotics. Finally convinced her that she had to take them to cure the infection.

 

She was supposed to have her post-surgical checkup this morning, and I had a helluva time convincing her to keep the appointment. She did not want to go back. I finally persuaded her that today they were only going to look and make sure everything was healing; that they weren't going to do any more work. She finally decided to go, but said she was never having any more dental work done.

 

When they looked at her mouth this morning everything is healing just fine. Now she's decided she wants to have the remaining two extractions done ASAP, then get the posts for the implants done. I asked her if she was sure, and she said yes, she wants to have nice teeth now.

 

I guess she's decided that the whole thing will be worth it.