American Views Abroad

 
On the issue of what good medicine costs today, Richard Bernstein compares the cost of hip replacement surgery in the US and Germany in his Letter from America in the IHT. In Germany the cost of a total hip replacement would be 7,000 to 13,000 euros ($10,200 - $19,000) depending on the patient's condition and whether there are complications according to one of the national health insurers, AOK. A private clinic would charge about 20,000 euros. Bernstein's own operation in New York last year will end up being around $40,000, or perhaps a few thousand more, once the bills for anesthesia, for four days in the hospital, for medications, pre-and post-operative exams, physical therapy and the prosthesis itself are added in.
www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/13/america/letter.php

A patient undergoing hip replacement in Germany will not even see an bill or even have an inkling of what it all costs if he or she is within the 90% of the population depending on a national health insurance. Except for a very small out of pocket charge of around 10 euros per hospital day, the patient will not be presented with a bill. He or she will most likely spend more time in the hospital than four days and then be sent on to a rehab program, all covered by insurance.
The patient will not have to wait months for an appointment and in Hamburg, at any rate, one can now go online to review how hospitals score on hip replacement when trying to decide where to go.
- posted by Gloria @ 4:50 PM