Medical Tourism in Malaysia - Our Experience + Cost Breakdown

Medical Tourism in Malaysia - Our Experience + Cost Breakdown

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Now is it really possible to save thousands on  medical treatment without sacrificing quality?   That's what we went to Malaysia to find out.  Now as Americans we come from one of the most   complicated and expensive healthcare systems in  the world. And for many of us going to the doctor   is a stressful experience, not just because  of health concerns but also because of the   high out-of-pocket expenses and even the risk  of insurance denying your coverage altogether. But it's not just Americans seeking medical  care in Malaysia many nationalities are booking   flights and coming to Malaysia for treatment.  Indonesians in particular make up the largest   group of medical tourists here but patients  from China, India, Singapore and many other   countries also choose Malaysia for affordable  and high-quality healthcare. So if you or a   loved one is dealing with a medical condition  where treatment is either too expensive or   you're on a long waiting list for treatment  or your treatment is not covered by your   insurance then health care in Malaysia  might be an alternative worth exploring.

So in this video, we'll share our personal  experience with Malaysia's healthcare system   from our comprehensive health screenings to  visits to specialists like an endocrinologist   and an ear nose and throat doctor. We'll  also walk you through what it's like going   through an inpatient surgery here in  Malaysia including the level of care   you can expect and of course we'll break  down the costs letting you know exactly   how much we paid for treatment and even do some  comparisons between the prices we paid in the US   and the prices we paid in Malaysia letting you  know whether the costs are the same, cheaper,   or in some cases maybe even more expensive  all in this episode of Lucas World Travel. Well hey world travelers I'm Kendra Lucas  and I'm David Lucas of Lucas World Travel   and we spent a month in Kuala Lumpur doing  health screenings and having a much needed   nasal surgery. But first let's start out  with Malaysia's health screening packages.

Yes a lot of people come to Malaysia just for the  health screenings alone because these exams are   quite comprehensive and gives you a lot of  good insight into what's going on with you.   Now we went to the Prince Court Hospital in  order to do these Health screenings now during   these Health screenings they do things  like a a quick eye test, a hearing test,   they do a full body scan so they can see your  body fat percentage they also do a Dexa scan so   they can see your bone mass and bone density.  They give you a stress test and that was my   very first stress test. That was exciting and  also nerve-wracking. They do all types of blood   and urine work with you so they can see all of  your numbers. And they have different packages   based on your age range so David had a different  package than me with his package it included a   visit with a nutritionist as well and at the end  you'll meet with a doctor who will give you all   your results and help you interpret them so you  know where you're good what has some concerns and   both some over-the-counter things you can do to  improve your health or they'll refer you out to a   specialist if you need care if they find anything  on the health screening. So I really thought that  

the health screenings were so thorough. I  never gone through a screening like this   where I felt like they touched everything that  could affect my health. Luckily for me nothing   surprising came up on the test but naturally,  they still came up with some things that run   in my family that I should pay attention to  which is such valuable information to know. One of the things that I loved was just all  of the tests that she's telling you about   that you're going around and taking you're not  taking them all over the place everything is   centralized so you basically go to one building  and they take you from this department to this   department and that was refreshing cuz they  just have a a simpler method and and that's   very thoughtful especially for someone coming  from a different country and they run a school   of test like Kendra mentioned to you so it's a  lot but at the same time you get a lot done in   a couple of days or a day of having this whole  screening done now it's a full day but you just   get everything under the stars uh I felt like  the care was just amazing so yes so in terms   of quality of the health screening it was super  herb so we were there from about 9 till 3:30pm,   9 till 4:00pm so that's a full day but they don't  keep you waiting so long they're naturally there's   a little bit of waiting involved so we maybe  had to wait 15 to 20 minutes to do this stress   test to see the doctor so there are some tests  you do have to wait for the radiologist and the   ultrasound but nearly everything else was almost  instantaneous it was really quick so for David's   test he got the signature mail package um which  goes to 1,800 ringget it now for whatever reason   they had a discount if you paid with MasterCard  about a 10% discount so with the 10% discount so   his screening cost $378.68 USD and I got the  Well Woman screening package for 1650 ringget   which came to with a 10% discount $346.66 USD.  Now for the quantity of tests that we got I   feel like that is a very good price heavily  discounted and was very impressed by that.

We paid this cash out of pocket, no insurance  nothing like that their medical care here is   strictly regulated so prices for certain  things cost that's that's what they cost   there's no hidden fees there's nothing sent in  the mail later that we still have to pay. I had   superior care than I've ever gotten in the United  States and the facilities at Prince Court were   excellent as well they have excellent quality  Machinery um excellent facilities they're not   skipping on anything in that hospital it's very  nice all right but next we're going to be moving   into seeing a specialist now after the health  screening David has had consistently high A1C and   glucose numbers so they recommended that we see an  endocrinologist for that so naturally when I went   to the endocrinologist I had to take blood test  again because they want to even though they're in   the same building this particular doctor wanted  to have the blood test again he wanted to make   sure that everything that the general office  basically told him was consistent and it was my   A1C was high I was basically pre-diabetic going  into the diabetic stage so what he wanted to do   is bring me back and have me do another test  and the test was a drinking glucose type of a   test and see how it went through my system after  I had fasted so he wanted to go further than any   of my doctors in the states had gone and also  too you have to understand here in this country   they are a lot more strict than our standards  are in America for something like diabetes so   he he he wanted to make thoroughly sure before  he put me on any type of diabetic medication   he wanted to see how my body was going to  respond to this glucose test and different   things like that and I felt happy that he was  even going further to to get more specific and   so I thought that was also well worth it so  the initial visit with the endocrinologist was $154 and they did blood work in the office because  he wanted additional tests even outside of what   was included in the health screening package  and he wanted David to come back for a second   appointment where he did the glucose test  that's where they do a fasting blood draw he   drinks glucose and then they do a a a blood draw  afterwards to see how his body has processed the   GL glucose now that second appointment with the  glucose test I was actually surprised that test   only cost $58 and 25 cents I was like how is  that less money than the initial appointment   we were very confused but so overall to get  a diagnosis to see a specialist so I did take   two appointments and about $212 to do that but  again very good care and he gave us all types of   options on other things that he could look at  because it is a hereditary thing he's dealing   with as well as a lifestyle thing for sure okay  so now I'm going to talk about my nasal surgery   I I have sinus problems from allergies and I'd  had this for years it probably dogged me for at   least seven eight years at one point it got  so bad that I started thinking okay I might   have to have sinus surgery and I asked around  to people who had had it and my answer came   back it doesn't really help it's going to hurt  and all this kind of stuff so I decided not to   do it and then last year it was really really  bad so when I waited till we went back to the   states which is good so now I can compare I went  and waited till I got back to the States and I   went to see a ear nose and throat therapist in  the states I asked him and asked him and asked   asked him what is this going to cost me they  wouldn't give me any answers they sent me to   for CT scans they sent me for Imaging uh I had  to come back and forth for many appointments at   least two or three appointments and they still  wouldn't give me any answers as to how much the   the treatment would cost they knew I needed  treatment after the Imaging but they wouldn't   give me a specific cost of how much it would cost  me out of pocket so after all this back and forth   they told me okay it's going to be about $8,000  I was I was squeamish about $8,000 but I was like   I probably could make it work 8,000 bucks out of  pocket I probably could make it work then the last   time I went back to meet with the doctor and he  took another look at my nose and all this and they   changed doctors on me and all this kind of stuff  and then the guy says to me I think it's going   to cost after facilities and everything an ICS  and everything I think it's going to cost about   $188,000 and I couldn't believe my ears okay I I  I just couldn't believe $18,000 and then he said   well that's give or take it could be more and I've  had that kind of situation happened in the States   before so my estimation was going to be this is  going to cost me $20,000 by the time this is done   and that's not with the rounds of medication and  all that that's just having the surgery having   the anesthetics paying for a facility and then who  knows what it's going to cost for follow-up visits   and all of that so I talked it over with Kendra  and I said no I don't think we should do that I   said if it comes up again and we can get a better  car somewhere in the world or whatever we'll   consider that but for now no and I don't trust  these folks to give me a straightforward answer   what this really is going to cost I mean it could  be something astronomical by the time it's done   now this is the thing about healthc care in the  United States where we're from we didn't feel good   about the doctors like they didn't seem honest  if they made sense like I felt I felt good that   they were competent I felt good that they could do  medical procedures I did not feel good that they   knew how much things cost and that they would  do right by us does that make sense I feel like   they wouldn't have cared about cost they wouldn't  have tried to keep cost down whatever it cost it   would have cost and like David said it could have  gotten up to 20 $25,000 because that's how it is   in America they'll give you a price range of a  difference of10 to $20,000 so yeah it could be   $ 8,000 it could be$ 25,000 like it's such a big  price difference that you're like I can't budget   for that like that's not even an estimate anymore  and then after we did all that decided not to have   surgery they build us like we're paying cash out  of pocket and they send us a bill which doesn't   make sense by the way in the United States  every time he would go to the ear nose and   throat doctor it would cost $136 so he would pay  that every time and we're like okay fine the last   appointment they sent us a bill afterwards for  $484 and we're like where is this money coming   from I actually thought it was a mistake I went to  correct it I went back up to the office to correct   it because I thought it was a mistake and it's  like I feel like you're scamming us because we   pay cash every time we come and we don't know ow  anything when we leave and that should be it how   are you going to send me a bill for three times  as much as what we pay for an appointment if   does not seem right it does not seem ethical and  this is why we're not going to P get medical care   in the United States like that is just craziness  so when we came here we said okay you know what   maybe we'll get my nose fixed and kendri started  doing some research and had heard about this place   and I was still skeptical to be honest but I was  like okay we'll check it out and we'll see cuz we   can always say no right so we got here and this is  how much it cost so we come from Medical Care and   Malaysia it's very easy it's very straightforward  I know this sounds weird but I found this ear nose   and throat doctor on Google Maps because he had  great reviews and literally everyone's like he   did surgery on my nose I can breathe now it was  very easy to work with him so I'm like okay this   is our guy this is where we're going and he's  at Glen Eagles hospital and he doesn't even   take appointments it's just Walkin only so we  go during his office hours and get seen and I   feel good about the guy so he keeps saying that  it's going to be about 25,000 ringget and that's   currently about $5500 so we're like oh my goodness  that's a great price because even in the US their   first price was $8,000 before it was $18,000  so we're like yes let's do it sign us up we're   ready but naturally you have to do more than just  that initial meeting with the doctor so we had to   repeat a lot of the tests so our initial visit  with the an te doctor was $82 us he wanted to he   sent us to have images done of his nasal passages  and that one was $142 that is actually a bit more   expensive than what we paid in the US I think the  US image was like $118 so just know things aren't   always cheaper here then we had to go back after  he had the images done and then he did a scope   of David's nose in the office and that was $113  and from there they went ahead and scheduled the   surgery we had the appointment and he booked the  surgery 5 days later so that's pretty quick first   of all so that's another thing you can get into  surgery very quickly in Malaysia he wanted him to   take certain medicines like antibiotics steroids  to mitigate any problems that could present during   the surgery so we got medications too to the tune  of about I want to say $60 alog together for the   medications we needed before the surgery when you  go for any type of impatient procedure in Malaysia   you're going to pay a deposit UPF front for us  it was 20,000 ringget so that's about $4,400 and   then you'll pay the remaining balance at the end  at discharge so when I paay the deposit for the   surgery they do tell you okay we you're going  to pay a 20,000 ringget deposit we expect it's   going to cost 25,000 ringget but it could cost  more and it could cost less so they do warn you   upfront that it could be variable in the price  which I like okay it's Medical Care you can't   be precisely right can you so but at the end of  all that guess how much our bill wound up being   it wound up being 28,000 ringget so the doctor  was pretty close in his estimate so that's only   a 3000 ringget difference and that's about $667  difference in what he told us and I'm actually   okay with that because let me tell you it's much  better to be you know $600 off tend to be $10,000   off like you are in the US. I can absorb $600  I cannot absorb $10,000 that is pure Insanity. So I'm very glad we came here for that it was way  more affordable so we did that and I feel like the   care he got in the hospital was superb the nurses  were so sweet they all spoke English and to be   honest they kept him in the hospital he was in the  hospital for just a little bit over 24 hours like   that would have never happened in the US like  in the US they would have had the surgery maybe   kept him a few hours afterwards and then sent his  butt home but I felt like they did a good job of   after surgery care and really kept a good eye on  him giving him the medicine he needed make sure   he wasn't in pain and I want to say you weren't  in pain at all after surgery I was like impressed   by it yeah they took very good care of me in  the hospital I didn't have any issues um in my   recovery room at all and we don't dismiss the fact  that there are professionals all over the world   who can help you and they can help you for much  less so I just I just look at that and I say wow   um I understand why people come remember I said  I was skeptical at first but now I understand why   people would spend their money on a plane ticket  to come here and have their serious surgeries   here where they can pay out of pocket afford it  and not be not feel like they got ripped off or   have to spend all their life savings because they  had they had a medical condition you know or go   bankrupt because they had a medical condition and  after the surgery David felled up with the doctor   two times the first one is after they remove any  type of nasal polyps or nasal things they put a   gel in your nose to stop the bleeding cuz you know  there's a lot of blood vessels in the nose so he   had to go in the first time just a few days after  surgery for him to remove the gel and then he came   in two weeks later for him to just check the work  to make sure everything was healing all right and   now he has like six months worth of nasal spray  to do in order to maintain the results and all   of that so those last two follow-up appointments  were $113 and $117 because he had to use the scope   each time they do charge you for the procedures  that they do that day so for example the first   time he went he didn't get his nose scope so it  was a bit less and the follow-up times he went he   always had his nose scope so it was always around  $113 USD. Another thing is when you go see these   specialists you will not know how much it's going  to cost exactly they can give you a range of like   the procedures they do in office and how much you  can expect to to pay the cheapest we paid to see   a specialist is $58 but on average is going to  be in the $90 to $120 range to see a specialist.   I think that what I observed was because their  medical health care thing here is regulated that   there are specific prices for each thing so that's  why he could give a very credible estimate because   he's he's done this so many times before so he  could say well typically it's going to be around   this amount now it might be more it might be less  but it's going to be really clo and he gave us   close he gave us within $600 of what we thought  it was going to be but it didn't turn out to be   a nightmare this really opened my eyes to other  opportunity so this was a really great benefit   to us that we came when we did and did did the  things that we did so I'm I'm very pleased with   it and another thing I liked about our ENT doctor  which I wasn't expecting is that he gave us his   WhatsApp number so we had Direct access to the  doctor and he would like message us and be like   how's David is doing and I'm like this doctor is  like literally text messaging me like this has   never happened in the history of my life I felt  super confident both in his skills and his care   like he actually cared about David and  yeah he was just a pleasure really.

So do we recommend health care in Malaysia? Yes  absolutely highly A+ score 100% well done now   for us we got care both at Prince Court Medical  Center and Glenn Eagles and both hospitals were   excellent we can't speak for other hospitals  I imagine that they're great as well but we   can give those private hospitals our highest  recommendation um Malaysia also has a public   Hospital a public health care system I do believe  that's just for Malaysians but I do think like   Malaysians only have to pay maybe one ringot  to get care here so almost free almost free   like one ringget it might be 20 cents so it's  literally free and we're very jealous of that   but even Malaysians a lot of times they'll go  to a private hospital because the public system   can have a long wait list so they might have  to wait long for treatment or procedures so   sometimes they'll go private as well. It's good  to know the citizens here do have a free option   or a lowcost option as well but I don't think  foreigners can use the public system so you   will have to go private there's already so many  proven methods to have universal health care and   Canada, the UK, France they all have models  that work very well and their life expectancy   is so much higher than ours and it's just such a  shame that you know we're paying a lot of money to   die earlier and it doesn't have to be that way  not that I want to end on a sad note like that but if you're in one of those predicaments kind  of like we were where the treatment you need is   not covered you have to wait too long for it or  um it's just too darn expensive then consider   Malaysia CU Ser seriously um plane tickets and  even a monthly airbn rental uh if you add that   into the hospital charge and how much they were  going to charge us back in the US it's still a   lot cheaper a lot and you get a little vacation  where you can see a new country experience new   things so it's just win-win win win win but no  matter what country you are from we can highly   recommend Med cool tourism in Malaysia it's a  lovely country it's a great place to stay for a   month by the way if you do need to have serious  treatment and get the treatment you need at an   affordable price but if you'd like to know even  more about what it's like to travel full-time   and get travel tips from all around the world  please do subscribe to the channel for even   more great informative videos like this up next  next we're going to have travel guides related   to guadaloop and Japan so stay tuned for that  until next time check out our year in review   of 2024 on the right there where we review all  the countries we went to um after one year of   slow travel as always though guys I thanks  so much for watching thanks for sharing with   anybody who needs some medical care and happy  travel planning until next time bye bye right

2025-01-19 10:58

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