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ConnieS · 07-09-2009, 03:55 AM

Haha.. Yes, it was sort of scary. WAs thinking how they were gonna ship me back if I was in that state.. I was in China for my treatment, as MG was considered something that was definitely curable there. However turned out that mine wasn't MG so things got a bit messy. I did get the doctors email addresses, if any of you would like to go there and give it a shot, let me know!

The medical system in China is quite different from Singapore, where I am currently. In China, I guess you could say as long as you had money, you could be treated, and would be able to get top consultants from other hospitals coming to see you. The key word's money. They do have a public healthcare system, but there's a limit as to how much you can use, and once that limit is reached, most hospitals chase their patients away. However, if you're the one paying, then some hospitals allow you to stay until you are better. Someone I met there changed as much as 7 hospitals as he had reached his allowed limit in each hospital. This is largely due to their huge population, which amazingly also has its benefits. Lots of diseases which are deemed as rare in other countries are seen as normal diseases, as the incidence rate is much higher. Lol. That also explains why they're able to treat MG and also many other rare diseases using a combination of Traditional therapies and Western Medicine. There's a lot of hospitals there, rarely do I see GPs or clinics, as they have consultant visits at the hospital readily available. One visit costs about 0.58 USD for doctor's fees, and well known consultants or the more experienced ones charge between 1.50 USD. Usually you're able to see 2-3 hospitals on one street in the cities. My hospital was facing two other hospitals. Lol. There are several reputable hospitals, well known for different kinds of illnesses. The one I went to was good at treating autoimmune and nervous system diseases, hence their reputation in treating such diseases. A point to note though, healthcare there is quite affordable to locals who live in the cities, but are deemed as luxurious for those who live in the rural areas. Its probably true to say that many people (especially from the rural areas) go untreated or delay treatment as they cannot afford the treatment fees.

In Singapore, we have to see a GP to get a referral to a consultant at a hospital. If it was under the public healthcare system, it would take quite a while, sometimes a 3-6mths wait. And often we'd have to queue for quite a while. Healthcare is expensive here, though there are various schemes available to help people offset treatment costs. However, no one gets turned away at public hospitals simply because they do not have cash on hand, especially for residents. Usually hospital bills and treatment costs are partly borne by the Government for locals and patients from lower income groups can apply for assistance to pay their bills.

Hope this provides some useful info for all of you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by xmas 25

connie it sounds so scary to be in a foriegn country and sick. are you from the far east or just temporiarly there? do you think the medical system is better there or worse? is it govt run or hmo type insur? i'm not planning to go anywhere but is interesting to learn new things! some things i've seen on tv suggest you need cash to get treated in some countries in far east-truth or fiction?

thanks! hope you're feeling better!