What Good Health is Worth

I have been meaning to do a post for some time now on what the costs of certain treatments for different ailments have been in our experience here in Rio. I find it to be unpredictable and often shocking. It's a good idea to keep cash in the country in case you need, well, as you'll see below - some bloodwork done!  (A "good to know" - most places do NOT take Visa. Sao Vicente Hospital in Gavea does however and they have a lab there as well.)

• For example, when I was taken to Emergency in Copa D'Or for an anaphylactic reaction and I feel my life was saved by the treatment I received, it cost a mere R$180.
• The above struck me as particularly odd being that treatment for a routine urinary tract infection cost R$650 (Doctor's appointment, tests and prescription).
• An overnight ER visit by Mr. DRL for severe vomiting and convulsions a few months ago cost R$2,700 (but included the visit, some antibiotics, tests including an ultrasound and a CT scan). 
• Prenatal visits are $R300 a pop, and ultrasounds vary between R$180 and R$350, depending on which tests are ordered. 
• Blood tests are very expensive. I have paid up to R$2,000 for a set of bloodwork (and I have had to do about 5 or 6 sets of it over the course of my pregnancy). Luckily my insurance now pays for this directly!
• Physiotherapy/massage appointments have ranged between R$100 and R$130 and generally last at least an hour.
• The projected cost for the birth of my baby is R$13,000 which includes 2 obstetricians in the room at all times, a personal anaesthesiologist, and pediatrician.  The cost would not change if it were to be C-section.
• Here's another funny one - over the counter pregnancy tests vary in price but I generally paid about R$30 for them. A pregnancy test - blood test - at the Sergio Franco clinic costs R$20.  Also note that some of my at-home pregnancy tests were WRONG thus the number of TESTS plural that I had to take.

I would like to note that our medical insurance does cover these costs but in a lot of cases we have had to pay up front and be reimbursed later. We started off down here insured with an international healthcare plan for expats but found the paperwork quite overwhelming - ALSO there was some fine print in our policy, specifically we were not covered for a pregnancy unless the baby was conceived at least one year after the insurance policy had been in place. Oops.

Now we are insured with Bradesco here in Brazil, and so in many cases we do not have to pay up front if the place handles it directly, however others do not and in these cases we have to pay up front and submit later. For example the lab takes our insurance but my doctor, ultrasound technician, hospital, massage/physio, etc. do not.

Another note: there may be more cost-effective healthcare available, admittedly we tend to go to places that are highly rated - in search of "pristine" healthcare as one of my commenters put it.

Just something for expats to think about...

 

Comments

[Emily]

For another perspective:

When we transferred to Brasil from the US, my husband became a full-fledged "Brasil employee" with the global company. As such, he has all the benefits (retirement acct, medical coverage, vacation schedule, etc.) of his colleagues here - along with maintaining our benefit schedule back in the US.

We are covered by Unimed health insurance. Any co-pays, etc. we incur are deducted directly from his paycheck each month. So far (through 40+ weeks of pregnancy) our total out of pocket cost has been R$46! And the only cost we foresee for the birth is R$1000 for our doula. It's been glorious and we too have been using the "pristine" health care options - although everyone we use has accepted our insurance. Oh, and I should add that nothing is deducted from his pay for this fabulous health care coverage (like it is in the US.)

It's so interesting to see what things would be costing us otherwise - because I've never seen a bill with total charges, what insurance paid, etc., I had no idea!

[Daily Rio Life]

That sounds more like what we are used to back home in Canada, not ever knowing what basic things like bloodwork cost. So it is interesting for sure. Some of the things are shocking to me, as I noted in the post. That is sure handy that everyone up in BH that you've been using takes your insurance directly!

[Telephone Triage]

It always pays to take good care of ines health.Good thought shared over here.

[Medical Billing Software]

Yes true medical expense has really shot up in many countries.

[Shared Decision Making]

It is always advisable to be covered by a good health insurance for emergencies.