The Stanley Rubenti Medical Tourism Blog

3 Reasons Why Malaysia Offers Safe Health Care

Number 1:  As Malaysian Medical Tourism Industry Flourishes, So Does Your Safety

Since how does a stranger in Malaysia, thousands of miles away from home, drilling in your mouth translate to safe health care?  The medical tourism phenomenon has been sweeping across nations as patients weigh the safety of "too little, too late" health care against traveling to a foreign land for treatment.  Profit is one reason medical tourism helps increase the safety of your health care abroad.  For countries like Malaysia, medical tourism was responsible for more than $87 million dollars of the country’s revenue in 2008.  The medical tourism industry has been quite profitable for all stakeholders involved, included the host country.  Consequently, it’s in Malaysia’s best interest to ensure patients’ safety so as not to tarnish the country's reputation and risk losing out on its piece of the multi-billion dollar industry.  

Number 2:  It Isn’t Safe Health Care If You Can’t Get It

The most powerful countries in the world have massive wealth and some of the best health care programs and facilities.  Yet, they also have two major health care issues: affordability and availability—people either can’t afford it or can’t afford the wait times for it.  For countries like the United States, lack of affordability makes low priced health care seem like a luxury, particularly when it comes to necessary procedures like root canals or heart surgery.  Whether you agree with the current health care reform plan or not, something needs to happen.  For more than 750,000 Americans in 2007, that something was medical tourism.  

Other countries like Canada, France, and the UK don’t have the affordability issues with health care like the US.  Instead, their struggle is lack of available care.  Canadians may benefit from a low priced root canal or kidney transplant…if the line isn’t too long.  Malaysia, though considered a "developing" country, offers patients both the affordability and availability they seek.

Number 3:  Medical Tourism Fear Factor May Actually Boost Your Safety abroad

We are generally far more attentive when we’re nervous or anxious about something, even to the point of being hypersensitive to that fear.  By channeling the energy and awareness that fear produces, you can make your medical tourism much safer.  Use that discomfort to research your trip (doctor, hospital, country) to a point where you feel comfortable knowing that you understand and agree to what you’re getting into.  For example, say the thought of being attacked or pick-pocketed in Malaysia makes you nervous, but you know you can't find a better way to get a low priced root canal.  You might find relief learning that violent crime involving tourists in Malaysia is fairly uncommon, especially in cities like Melaka, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur.  Such reports may not completely remove your fears, but being prepared and knowing what to expect can certainly alleviate them.

Thailand Can Increase Your Size without Shrinking Your Wallet

Patients Opting to Save, Despite Low Plastic Surgery Prices

"How much does penis enlargement surgery cost?” So far, the congressional health care reform debate hasn’t addressed this type of question.  Granted the issue doesn't concern the entire population, but for those worried about penis enlargement, the size of the procedure's price tag matters.  When resources become constrained, as many patients’ incomes have been lately, some choose more creative routes to get what they want.  A man thinking that penis size matters enough to make a “big” change might consider a pump or pills instead of a costly medical procedure.  When he compares how much a penis enlargement surgery costs to his shrinking paycheck and rising costs of living, he might also consider other ways to please his love interest including different positions or activities. 

These Days, Acceptance May Outweigh Discounted Plastic Surgery Prices

According to some sources, pills and pumps are at best temporary solutions, leaving plastic surgery as the only proven method of lasting penis enlargement.  Some procedures increase the length, while others increase the girth.  The cost of those procedures can range from $5,000 to $17,000.  Considering spending several thousands of dollars in the midst of record levels of unemployment and an economic slump, patients are forced to make very difficult decisions between the love life they want and the quality of daily living they desire. 

Despite offering health care at a fraction of the US cost, medical tourism, like other industries, may also see a decline from the worldwide recession.  Would-be medical tourism patients are forced to follow common sense and save more while spending less.  This often means temporarily accepting their "endowments" no matter how big or small.  Though not a novel idea, self-acceptance instead of plastic surgery (domestically or through medical tourism) is certainly the cheapest advice one can receive.

Get Affordable Penis Enlargement Surgery in Thailand

If you can convince yourself that size doesn’t matter as much as society would have you believe, you’ll save time, money, and stress.  Otherwise, you’re most reliable option for increasing penis size, girth, or both may be plastic surgery; but be prepared to pay a hefty price in the States.  Size-seekers can, however, travel to Thailand for penile extensions for much cheaper.  Aside from offering plastic surgery at affordable prices, Thai doctors also tend to have more experience with procedures like breast augmentations and penis enlargements than other countries.  One can only wonder if Thailand’s multi-billion dollar sex tourism industry is part of the reason Thai doctors are so much more experienced.

How Hungary Keeps Your Heart Beating

Does Cheap Health Care Exist?

These days, the phrase cheap health care seems to be an oxymoron.  Reports estimate that nearly 6 million medical tourists will have left the comfort and familiarity of local medical facilities for cheap health care in other countries by 2010.  They travel for affordable dental care (braces/laser teeth whitening), cosmetic surgery (facelift/breast augmentation), and major procedures (spinal fusion/pacemaker installation); procedures for which many would have to choose between accepting massive amounts of debt or forgoing the treatment altogether.  For many US patients struggling to find affordable health care, the idea of paying a third of the price for major procedures like pacemaker installation draws them to medical tourism.  For countries like the UK, where health care is provided by the government, excessive wait times make accessibility the driver for medical tourists seeking treatment abroad. 

Hungary Helps Meet Patients’ Needs

Most medical tourists who travel to Hungary go for dental procedures, but the country's affordability also draws patients seeking more complex procedures like pacemaker installation and bypass surgery.  Hungarian hospitals like Jávorszky Ödön Kórházat Hospital use the country's low cost of living and cheap labor costs, technological advances, and globalization to provide cheap, but quality, health care combined with an exotic vacation; all for less than what you’d pay for just the procedure at home. 

Are Medical Vacations to Hungary Dangerous?

For a complicated procedure like pacemaker installation, no one should jump at the lowest bidder.  Bargain shopping is one thing, but skimping on quality treatment to save money could prove fatal.  In fact, many believe that the lower priced health care that medical tourism offers is indeed of lower quality.  There exist reports that nearly half of the UK’s medical tourists are less than satisfied with their travels abroad.  Some have experienced serious complications, while others felt their follow-up care was lacking.  Not all of the patients received treatment in Hungary, but there can be tradeoffs for your affordable pacemaker installation, dental cleaning, or cosmetic surgery.  Are these medical vacations to Hungary dangerous?  The answer is based more on how much research you have invested in the hospital you’re visiting than the money you’re paying.  The more homework you do upfront, the greater your chances of having a vacation and medical experience that leaves you healthier and happier.

Facing Yourself in Brazil

Taxes on Low Priced Nose Job Surgery?

There’s a move afoot in the United States to tax cosmetic surgeries.  Proponents consider taxing such procedures as a sort of luxury tax for non-essential health care.  For patients seeking cosmetic surgery who’re already pinching pennies and desperately searching for the lowest priced nose job surgery or breast implants they can afford, such tax schemes are unwelcomed news.  In 2007 alone, there were an estimated 750,000 Americans who traveled on medical vacations to places like Brazil, India, and Thailand; but for patients who’ve currently been leery or undecided about medical tourism, this new "beauty" tax may be the deciding factor. 

Just a Tenth in Brazil

Brazilian doctors have developed a non-surgical nose job procedure that can reshape a patient’s nose in about 10 minutes.  Equally amazing turnaround times exist for other procedures, such as tummy tucks, butt lifts, Botox injections, and boob jobs.  Even more remarkable, however, are some of the prices that are available in the land of perfect bodies.  For some procedures, you end up paying only a tenth of what you might have to shell out back home.  And to be honest, the quality in Brazil is often as good if not better than what you might find in major plastic surgery hubs like New York or Los Angeles. 

Cosmetic Surgery Financing For Brazilian Nose Jobs

Brazil and other medical tourism destination countries certainly offer lower priced nose job surgeries than you’ll find in the United States.  But, even $300 to $800—a tenth of the $3,000 to $8,000 that nose jobs cost in the US—plus travel fees (airfare and accommodations) is nothing to sneeze at when you’re on a budget.  Fortunately, current cosmetic surgery financing options are opening doors for more patients and are including medical vacations in their coverage options.