Hi All! Last Monday, my wife had a emergency operation in the Galenia Hospital in Cacun. We paid 28´500 Pesos for the Hospital and additional 27´000 Pesos for the Operation. That´s just for a standard operation (hemorrhoids) of 45 minutes and my wife sleeped 1 night in the hospital. We are absolutly disappointet about this situation. We are from switzerland and travel since 18 Month´s around the world. We have no insurence and no idea how we should pay that bill. I sent this story to PROFECO and hope they can make some pressure to the Hospital for. Wish you all the best Thomas
Good luck, I hope that you can get some relief on the bill. For the rest of us who travel down (and anywhere for that matter) there is a good lesson for us to take from it. Always get travel insurance!
I don't think you'll get much joy from Profeco. Galenia is expensive, it is arguably the best private hospital in Cancun and has prices to match. My wife broke her leg recently and needed an operation plus one night stay there and the price was a little lower than what you were asked to pay, but not by much. Surely they gave you a quote before you agreed to accept the surgery? It's a tough pill to swallow, for those of us who come from countries where healthcare is free. Be thankful it didn't happen in the USA where it would have been even more expensive for a foreigner without insurance. But, really, traveling the world for 18 months without insurance is taking a huge gamble.
Why don't you just leave Mexico and keep traveling? do they have your passports or something? I don't see the problem unless they won't let you leave? What are Profeco going to do? Galenia are not ripping you off, just charging the prices they charge. They provided a service and you accepted it. If it were me I would forget about it unless I was living permanently in Mexico.
Hi all! Ofcourse, we startet with an insurence in our worldtrip. The cost´s for a year and per person was about 1000US$. 14 countrys and 12 Months without any trouble. For the last 6 Months in mexico we took that risk and lose... We are absolutely happy with the work of the Hospital Galenia. They have a quit good standard, no question. But at the morning we where in the emegency entry, they ask for my visacard, because they needed a balance of 30´000 Pesos. Otherwise they won´t start to work. At the next day the showed me the two receipts. One for the Hospital and the other for the medical team. That seem´s to me a little bit strange. We had just one wish - out of the hospital so fast as possible. I called to the visa hotline and they extend the limit of my card. I had some time ago in the us states trouble with pain in my ear. After visiting the hospital, they send me the bill over 300$ to my adress in switzerland. They never asked me for a passport, visacard or something like this ;-) Yes, i´m shure. Profeco is not interrested in my story to. Regards, Thomas
I don't think that is a lot for an emergency surgery. No doubt she had the surgeon, nurses, anesthesiologist and medicines. Perhaps there was also and ultrasound and a biopsy to make sure the problem was not something more serious. I did not know that hemorrhoids needed emergency surgery unless they were bleeding and/or the discomfort was unbearable. Did you go into the Emergency Room and was she taken immediately into surgery? Or did they tell you to come back the next day at a certain time? Did you even ask the cost of the surgery, terms of payment, etc.? All that said, when a foreigner walks into a hospital, they most certainly pay more than a local, even at the best hospital in town. As Steve says, surely you knew the cost before you agreed to the surgery. Perhaps you could have negotiated them down somewhat, being that it is a private hospital. If you had even a day to consider things you could have posted here and got less expensive options. Most of the doctors at Galenia, practice at other local hospitals as well, often with their "staff" going along with them. Galenia is a boutique hospital and the people who can't afford the best still need quality treatment. I know several doctors who do exactly this. A few months ago I had a surgical procedure at another hospital, that took about two hours and had an overnight stay. $35,000 including 3 or 4 follow up appts in the doctor's office. The same thing at Galenia was quoted at $65,000. An easy decision to make and I don't regret it for a moment. The only bad thing was that one of the nurses on duty, who had me walking around with my backside exposed, looked exactly (in the face) like a gal who regularly waits on me at Starbucks. I could not get that vision out of my mind.
Might be strange but I can assure you it's normal at Galenia. This happened to us both when my wife broke her leg and also when she had our boy by caesarian a few years ago. One charge is for the hospital - use of operating theatre, overnight room, medical equipment such as dressings, syringes, medication, anaesthetic, nurse attention etc. Medical equipment should be itemised down to the last little thing. The other charge is for the Dr/Surgeon - his own fee, paying his surgery team such as anaesthetist and consulting, aftercare etc. I do think the Dr's charge was expensive, ours has been about half that for the two cases above - hospital charge about the same as yours. We've also never been asked for a deposit in advance - possibly because we are residents though. Anyway, although expensive, the main thing is your wife is ok now.
So you're complaining about surgery and a night's hospital stay costing about $4,500 USD? Sounds cheap to me. In the states, my wife's CT (about 45 minutes) is $12,000. There is not a hospital in the US where you'll spend the night for under $10,000.
Have no input here, except: Im thrilled and relieved that I grew up in Sweden. Holy moly, these costs all of you are quoting... Madness! :S
