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A Mexican Hospital, an American Surgeon, and a $5,000 Check (Yes, a Check)


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Phil GalewitzCANCÚN
Donna Ferguson
Thomas Parisi
Ashley
James Polsfut
Gabriela Flores Teón
Galenia
I. Glenn Cohen
Terry
Marcus Gagnon
Irving Stackpole
Terry Ferguson
Noemi Osorio
Daniel Rios


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Mexican
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Ashley Furniture


U.S.
Mexico
Cancún
Wisconsin
Milwaukee
Mississippi
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Galenia
New Jersey
Costa Rica
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The New York Times
SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/business/medical-tourism-mexico.html
Write a review: The New York Times
Summary

The hospital costs of the American medical system are so high that it made financial sense for both a highly trained orthopedist from Milwaukee and a patient from Mississippi to leave the country and meet at an upscale private Mexican hospital for the surgery.Ms. Ferguson gets her health coverage through her husband’s employer, Ashley Furniture Industries. If something goes wrong, patients will be far from family and friends who can help — and it might be more difficult to sue providers in other countries.The high prices charged at American hospitals make it relatively easy to offer surgical bargains in Mexico: In the United States, knee replacement surgery costs an average of about $30,000 — sometimes double or triple that — but at Galenia, it is only $12,000, said Dr. Gabriela Flores Teón, medical director of the facility.The standard charge for a night in the hospital is $300 at Galenia, Dr. Flores said, compared with $2,000 on average at United States hospitals.The other big savings is the cost of the medical device — made by a subsidiary of the New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson — used in Ms. Ferguson’s knee replacement surgery. Ms. Ferguson was the company’s 10th insured person to go to Cancún.Ashley also has sent about 140 employees or dependents for treatments at a hospital in Costa Rica, and together the foreign medical facilities have saved the firm $3.2 million in health costs since 2016, he said.“Even after the incentive payments and travel expenses, we still save about half the cost of paying for care in the United States,” Mr. Gagnon said. Dr. Parisi reviewed some of those records before Ms. Ferguson headed to Cancún.The company also coordinated her medical care and made travel arrangements, including obtaining passports, airline tickets, hotel and meals for the couple.In Mexico, the day before surgery, Ms. Ferguson had more X-rays and had her blood drawn.

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