Heart Surgery

[Viliam]

I apologize for asking here, but this is the only international discussion forum I participate.

My friend needs a heart surgery. He is trying to get one in Slovakia, but it is very complicated. He has been already waiting almost half of year, his situation is gradually getting worse, and it is still not sure when (or if) it will be possible. So I think maybe the solution is to have the surgery in other country.

I could have searched on google, but this situation is too serious and I would not like to rely on some SEO scam or such. I hope maybe here in Wesnoth forum could be someone with good medical background to give me a pointer to... uhm... some institution with decent survival rates at affordable costs. Big thanks in advance!



I am really angry about this situation, so here is some additional explanation: -- In Slovakia we have mandatory health insurance and "free" health service. In theory, you pay some % of your income (or if you are student / unemployed, the state pays it for you), and when you have health problems, you are cured for free. In reality... there are a lot of people who need medical help, but few hospitals and doctors; even worse if you need a specialist. So you get the surgery for free, but you have to wait. Many people wait, and wait, and wait, and not a few of them die before it is their turn to have surgery.

Even worse, you do not know how long to wait. They just tell you "come here next month" and when you come, they can just tell you "not now, come here next month". It has happened to my friend three or four times, so recently he was told to wait until September... or maybe longer, no one can really tell. And it is not sure how long will he live without the surgery.

People usually bribe doctors to get their turn sooner, but they can just take the money and still tell you "come here next month". Or you can refuse to bribe doctors, and they can also tell you "come here next month". There is no way to tell if paying actually helps or not, just - you know - when it is about life and death, most people are afraid not to pay. And doctors usually do not refuse to take the money, so they probably expect it. In my opinion, if you pay huge money for a "free" health care, you could just pay the same money to a private institution, and then at least you will be guaranteed the service. But I do not know anything about such institutions and their success rates. And I would not believe their success rate just because they put it on their web page.

I guess the situation is bad in any country, because there will always be more ill people than specialist doctors, but I hope that somewhere a solution is available for a reasonable cost.

[Herduk]

Check your PM, hope it can help

[Crushmaster]

I can't help directly, but I will pray.
God bless,
Crushmaster.

[Kalajel]

In Slovakia we have mandatory health insurance and "free" health service. In theory, you pay some % of your income (or if you are student / unemployed, the state pays it for you), and when you have health problems, you are cured for free. In reality... there are a lot of people who need medical help, but few hospitals and doctors; even worse if you need a specialist. So you get the surgery for free, but you have to wait. Many people wait, and wait, and wait, and not a few of them die before it is their turn to have surgery.

That's more or less the situation in Canada too…

[Dixie]

Well, I think we should rather say "in Quebec", since I don't think the rest of the Canada shares our free health care system. And I would think it is a bit better: while you can wait long periods of time before being treated, you still have an appointment, be it 8 months from the time you ask for it, it's not on a monthly basis. Also, I wouldn't think our doctors are as corrupt, accepting money like that to maybe get things moving faster.

Still, good luck with your friend Viliam I can't do much to help.

[Midnight_Carnival]

Please do post if things work out for your friend.

I live in South Africa, so if I could get your friend some of our healthcare you'd be advised not to take me up on the offer. Like Crushmaster I can pray, but as I said, please let us know how things work out.

[Sgt. Groovy]

I don't have medical background, but I do know that lot of people from Finland (where I live) go to Estonia for all kinds of private medical services, because the standards of quality are good and the rates lower than here. Maybe that's something to look into.

[Velensk]

The cost for private medical institutions in a different country are cheaper than the public ones where you live?

[Herduk]

The cost for private medical institutions in a different country are cheaper than the public ones where you live?

Velensk, here in Italy, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS cure (under precise directions and for specific cases) even non italian people.
Even more, Slovakia is in European Union, so others countries have some type of support in these cases.

You only need to find the right way to do

[ancestral]

When it comes down to it… you can't (or perhaps, shouldn't) put a price on your life.

[doofus-01]

The cost for private medical institutions in a different country are cheaper than the public ones where you live?

Velensk, here in Italy, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS cure (under precise directions and for specific cases) even non italian people.
Even more, Slovakia is in European Union, so others countries have some type of support in these cases.

You only need to find the right way to do :)

I think Velensk was incredulous that the private institutions of Estonia could be so much cheaper than public institutions of Finland, not that someone from another country might get treatment in Estonia. I'm curious too, does it have something to do with consumer price index (if that even applies to healthcare)?

-------------------------
Viliam, I hope it works out well for your friend.

[Velensk]

Doofus has it correct.

As an aside note, I believe you should put a price on your life just not in money. Money matters little to a dead man (I hope).

[thespaceinvader]

NB: international prices are governed by exchange rates. What is cheap to someone from another country can be prohibitively expensive to a native. For instance, I'm not remotely well-off, for a Brit. But I could live for months or years in India in the style to which I am accustomed, on just my savings, or so I understand.

The thing with medical care is that quality is very variable. It surprises me somewhat, I have to admit, that the quality is good enough in Estonia that Finns will go off on medical tourism ventures there. It strikes me as equivalent to people from the USA going to Mexico or South America for surgery.

In the UK we get a lot of medical tourists - if you can come in under certain circumstances, it can be quite easy to obtain treatment on the NHS, of significantly better quality than at home, and for no charge. I don't know the circumstances, nor would I advocate doing this to an already strained system unless you're paying British taxes.

[Captain_Wrathbow]

@Viliam: I'll be praying. God bless.

[doofus-01]

In the UK we get a lot of medical tourists - if you can come in under certain circumstances, it can be quite easy to obtain treatment on the NHS,

Right, they are going to get the British taxpayer to help foot the bill. That makes sense (sort of).

If someone in the US leaves the domestic private market for the one in Mexico that they can actually afford, that makes sense.

If someone, like Viliam's friend, can't stay in purgatory any longer, they leave the domestic public system for a foreign system that will actually do something, even though there is a higher financial cost, that too makes sense.

But leaving (for financial reasons) the public system, where they are presumably subsidized by taxes they pay anyway, for a foreign private market that is not subsidized by anything except differences in the cost of living... I don't see how that works. This website has consumer price index for a bunch of countries, Estonia doesn't seem to be there, but I see differences of a factor of 2-4 between the Wealthy West and India and Ukraine. That doesn't sound like enough.