Our family of 5 has been on an extended journey outside of the US for the past 10 months.
During this time, we have seen several doctors, had over a dozen physical therapies and even more sessions with two osteopaths and all of us have had lab work done at some point.
This occurred across 6 different countries – Colombia, Portugal, Spain, Serbia, Montenegro, Thailand.
These visits resulted in 49 individual medical charges (including medications) for the 5 of us.
Some of these charges included the following expenses:
• Hospital visit for head stitches in Colombia
• Comprehensive blood work in Portugal and Serbia (for all of us, including hormone studies for 2 of 5)
• Consultation with an orthopedic surgeon in Spain
• Multiple osteopath visits in Spain and Thailand (at least a dozen)
• Physical therapy sessions in Serbia (over a dozen)
• Fixing a broken tooth in Spain
• 7 months-worth of epilepsy medication for one of our family members (that costs $3,200/month in the US)!!!!!
• One hospital visit for suspected appendicitis that turned out to be a traveler’s stomach bug (this was a 3hr ordeal with a wide array of blood tests)
• One episode of cellulitis from a bike fall that required antibiotics
There are more details to include in these 49 individual expenses but this is the gist of it.
All of these expenses were paid out of pocket with no insurance. It didn’t make sense to claim some of them with the travel insurance company (not emergencies) and some were just too small to deal with all the paperwork. We paid a full, listed price for all these services, as if we were uninsured locals.
All these medical services are comparable in quality and efficiency, if not better, to medical services in the US.
All of these expenses, for the whole 10 months of travel + 6 countries + 49 individual charges added up to $2,438.
Let that sink in!
A family of five, 49 individual medical charges for 10 months of life, received a wide range of medical services and medication provided by multiple medical providers and our total bill was TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHT DOLLARS!!!
Our US medical system is broken and people are brainwashed that it has to be this way!!! I hear all sorts of excuses why it is the way it is but unfortunately, these are all ignorant statements, not fact-based.
When you get outside of the US, you see a whole different picture of lies we are told within our borders.
Our future depends on you getting out and voting.
If you are not registered to vote, please do so right now (not tomorrow, not next week, do it now!!!!!).
Refresh Journey 