Comment by losvedir | Hacker News Reader

Comment by losvedir | Hacker News Reader

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> The first supposed fact thrown around in the medical costs argument like this is, "Well in India their cost of living is lower, so they charge considerably less, yadda yadda..." but it's obvious the price difference goes way beyond any cost of living gap. That's over $100,000 in price difference, while it is true the cost of living (salary, prices of every day items) in India is considerably less than that of the US, the gap certainly isn't 100k+

Well, the article says 2/3 of people live on $2/day, implying this surgery is $1600/$2/day = 800 days worth of work.

Taking the US median income of $45k (since I don't know the 2/3 number off the top of my head), that implies the equivalent price in the US would be ($45k/365) * 800 = $98,630. So, right about the same as at the Cleveland Clinic.

The $2 figure quoted for Indian is not the middle 2/3, but the lowest 2/3, so it would have very little to do with the median. Let's go by the figures we actually have (mean):

Per-capita income in India is $1492 Per-capita income in the USA is $49,922

So, it's around 1583/1492 = 1.06 years of work in India. And, 106385/49922 = 2.13 years of work in the USA.

And since the hospital price is actually 95k Indian rupees, exchange-rate fluctuations do not matter.

Here is what makes up the difference. In America, law mandates that hospitals treat anyone regardless of income, insurance possession or immigration status. Go to the hospital in India as an illegal alien and not only will you not get treatment, you will be jailed, then deported. Covering illegals and the uninsured is a HUGE cost that health care systems have to bear. Of course there are other things in America which drive up health costs, but treating illegals and chronically ill patients who have no insurance is the biggest. There are other major factors as well, but these laws alone bridge the gap in your calculations.

Umm, no one ever asks you about insurance unless you claim to have it? There are no checks for illegal immigrants.

Chronically ill patients can still seek treatment, they may or may not be able to afford it though.

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