Any ideas where to quickly get an MRI in Taiwan, if possible for an appropriate price.
I got quoted 30300 ntd and waiting 3 months. Need to get it of my knee then meniscus surgery.
In Europe paid privately it’s about 9000 and wait 20-30 minutes at places only for private patients. At public they sometimes charge around 15.000 ntd to offset the losses they make with state insurance only paying around 4500.
I’m not even talking about mainland China where going rate is well below 3000 ntd…
Oh and what would you expect to pay for meniscus clean up (only one knee, only one side). I have a travel insurance but they will not cover unreasonable charges. So they will not refund more then around 10.000 for MRI…
But most important is getting it within 7 days. Could also travel to Taipei or Kaohsiung by HSR…
No. Not until 01. July.but I really can’t wait. Cannot do sport’s right now and willing to pay 100-200k ntd to get my knee fixed as quickly as possible
But it cannot cost that much if in Europe they do it for one third of the price at places not accepting people with public insurance. And in mainland China without insurance you pay 1/10. The CT costs in China Vs rest of the world are even crazier. Cheap as a fart vs serious dough.
But as said, more important to get a place that does it this or next week.
I always thought Taiwan has cheap and good medical system. But now it seems to me only generic medicines and visiting doctors is cheap. But other things really expensive.
I already paid 3000 just to get the MRI referral (well included useless x-rays as I knew you cannot see anything there and I need MRI plus maybe CT).
My last knee op in Europe, however on private insurance was within 4 hours of accident, and they managed to squeeze in MRI and CT and 1 hour transport from mountains to city into that 4 hours, plus my doctor of choice (as I tend to get injured doing sports every 2-3 years I got an accidental insurance on top valid in Europe for private clinics. Never understand why they didn’t kick me out with already 8 surgeries within 20 years. )
Well Europe’s health insurance scheme is better for the less to non insured as they are more or less socialist, while NHI is loosely based on Medicare in the US. So their higher taxes pays for a lot of these things…
As for China, no idea. Maybe the CCP pays for a lot of stuff so the people don’t have to. After all, they are not really capitalist.
But if you can’t wait for NHI then maybe come to Taipei for this?
Also you said you are willing to pay 100-200k to get it fixed NOW. So you should not have trouble finding help. Go to a government hospital in Taipei and get it done NOW.
Yes but slow. I need MRI quick, then look for a hospital maybe private to get the surgery in as quick as possible. I cannot not do sports for 3 months then wait for recovery. I’m in serious risk of suicide in that case. Not joking ,
I guess private hospitals will charge more actual market rate instead of financing the hospital because NHI pays too little. Same thing in Europe. Hospital upcharges private patients to make up the losses from state insurance paying peanuts.
Yikes sorry to see this. Hope you can find something quickly. I agree this is expensive…I did it a few years ago paying out of pocket in the US with no insurance for around 400 USD. With my insurance would have been slightly more out of pocket lol…(US insurance is crazy)
That seems excessive on both counts - maybe you should check different hospitals. Mackay in Taipei quoted me something like 12k for a head MRI a year or so ago (without NHI), so I’d be surprised if the going rate for a knee is 30k.
I got an MRI in 3 days at the Taichungs Veterans General Hospital. Under NHI tho and I had pain in the knee. Having pain expedites the process to a degree, but don’t expect same-day treatment if it’s not a medical emergency.
I waited 3 days and paid 150nt registration fee a month or so ago. I.assume the wait.is the same, but without insurance just pay them directly. Should be easy, try a less populated city?
Thanks for the recommendations will give them calls and ask. At the veterans hospital they did recommend me two more places too, but said likely same price ( which is abused Vs US or Europe).
If I pay private, surely more than NHI reimburses, I do expect 1 week or so at least, maybe next day.
If its truly an emergency (based on pain, probably not on game seasons) they will rush you in. 1 week should be very easy, again try a less populated city if its a real rush and they wont treat you as emergency. You can pay to get a cd of you xray to avoid the hassle at a new hospital. If you ar willing to pay 100k plus, i really dont see where thee is an issue. take a taxi elsewhere.
100-200k for everything - plus my insurance should pay a bit. Not 100-200k for MRI. That would be crazy. I’ll call through the hospitals for offers on Saturday. Guess tomorrow it’s hopeless. If I need to pay 500k for everything (should be a simple 15 minute or so surgery just flatten that meniscus where it ripped) then I seriously wait for 1. July when I have NHI coverage (or should I go back to Europe, got european social health there)
