Astronomical healthcare costs even with insurance in the US, it got me thinking…
I’m curious about the most affordable healthcare treatments covered by Taiwan’s NHI that are astronomically expensive in the US, even with good healthcare insurance.
Are CT scans or MRIs among them? Prescription medicine?
I’ve read online that many overseas Taiwanese return to Taiwan for healthcare treatments, I assume they also have healthcare insurance in the US or their working country.
What medical treatments justify this trip back, considering the healthcare cost perspective?
(Of course, many come back for family reasons, etc.)
I got my Cataracts fixed for just the small hospital co-payment - less than TWD1K in total over several visits for each one. Would have cost me heaps in Australia with Private Insurance, not to mention the waiting time.
Although common, it’s often looked down upon people not living here coming back just to get free health care. I have had mri, CT scans etc for just a few hundred nt. Living here. Dental has now become expensive with medical tourism etc.
The system is taxed pretty hard already. The people living here already see a massive downturn in quality. This is likely to continue.
Lasix or other types of eye correcting surgery. Got mine done in Taiwan for half the price of the US at a reputable place. Probably one of my best decisions ever.
Ironically, many of them are the people who can afford to get their medical treatment abroad but want to enjoy the benefits of socialized medicine in Taiwan while often not contributing much to it. Obviously efforts have been made to make that a bit more difficult in recent years. My old boss was into this for himself and his family. Of course when it came down to getting health insurance for his foreign teachers, “Oh, you wont’ need it. If you get sick, I’ll give you some money to see the doctor.” I guess it’s a version of “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.”
Yes, but that has been a more recent development. For a long time there was a loophole that many Taiwanese who lived abroad took advantage of. They didn’t pay into it but when they wanted to use it, they’d just fly in and viola! They had it. Once treatment was done, they’d take off again.
The thing is that you can suspend coverage if you are leaving for more than six months (and less than 2 years), and then you only have to pay into the system from the day you return (and possibly for 3 more months until you can suspend coverage again).
Do you mind sharing how much it cost? How long ago did you have it done?
Does the national health insurance cover the procedure or part of that procedure?
Could be an opportunity for them to start regarding having an APRC as equivalent to HHR for some purposes (obviously not including voting and stuff)…
…or more likely, perhaps, for them to regard it as equivalent just for the purpose of forcing APRC holders to keep paying for NHI, but not for any situation where it would actually be beneficial/desirable to the foreigner.
