- An Indian man in the US shared his $1,800 hospital bill for a minor injury.
- He avoided an ambulance due to high costs and took a taxi to the ER.
- The insurance paid $4,000, but he still owed $1,800 out-of-pocket.
An Indian man living in the US has gone viral for sharing the reality of the American healthcare system, where a brief hospital stay ended up costing him over Rs 1.65 lakh ($1,800). In an Instagram video titled, 'Insane healthcare cost in US. Real-life incident', the expat named Parth Vijayvergiya revealed that he had to visit the emergency room (ER) after getting hurt while ice skating.
"Many say that America is expensive. I stay here, and I will give you an example to explain how it is expensive," said Vijayvergiya, adding that the incident took place on Christmas when he was out on the rink with his wife and daughter.
After suffering the knee injury, Vijayvergiya decided against taking an ambulance and preferred to take a taxi to reach the ER.
“The cost of an ambulance here is very high, so calling an ambulance was out of the question," he said, adding that he underwent an X-ray while the doctor tied a crepe bandage.
Almost three weeks later, Vijayvergiya received a bill from his insurance provider that he would have to pay around Rs 1.65 lakh ($1,800). This out-of-pocket expense was on top of nearly Rs 3.6 lakh ($4,000) that the insurance already paid for his treatment.
“That's why America is so expensive, that's why salaries are high in here,” Vijayvergiya stated.
Check The Viral Post Here:
'Absolute Worst'
As the video gained traction, social media users agreed with Vijayvergiya's assessment about America's expensive healthcare system, with some sharing similar experiences.
"Hope you can understand how we work here and how efficient the Indian doctors are. Be it the availability or the effectiveness," said one user, while another added: "You could have got robotic knee replacement surgery in India for this price."
A third commented: "I work in US pharma and believe me, the healthcare system in the US is the absolute worst. It is much better in India."
A fourth: "I was sitting in the emergency room for 8 hours without treatment, and still there was no treatment, and my insurance paid $3000."
Also Read | American Woman Shares 'Crazy' Hospital Experience In India: 'Charged Me Only Rs 50'
Previous Instances
In November, an NRI couple shared a similar story, highlighting that they returned to India after 17 years to gain access to affordable healthcare facilities. The couple stated that with no support system around and the costs inflating, the family decided to move to India, where healthcare seemed 'accessible'.
"For anyone who's never dealt with the US healthcare system, here's a little context. Before insurance even helps, you first have to hit your yearly deductible. Meaning every doctor visit, test, whatever it is, you pay until hitting the out-of-pocket deductible," the couple said.
"For us, that was $14,000 out of pocket on top of monthly premiums. The cheapest plan we were quoted for just the two of us was $1,600/month with a $15,000 deductible. That didn't even include our twins. So even simple concerns became expensive, slow, and stressful."
The couple stated that "India isn't perfect", but it gave them something they didn't even realise they were missing -- 'Balance and peace of mind'.
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