Correct me if I'm wrong. There is no for-profit private hospital here in the USA or in Canada, is it? For those of you who had never experienced private for-profit healthcare, I want to tell you that, you totally have no idea what quality healthcare is about. I can't say I had the honor to be sick a few years ago when I was visiting Hong Kong, but that experience had sent me into a really great private hospital (not this new one in the video) where I was treated like a royalty. The nurses there had such good bedside manner only the flight attendants in Singapore airlines can match. I'm not kidding. My travel insurance paid for it because it was a sudden illness and it happened when I was traveling, and of course that illness wasn't because of a pre-existing condition that I had. I had never seen such caring and handsome doctors my entire life. But I have to say, I have been healthy enough to not have seen that many doctors to really conclude that American doctors aren't good looking. But the few doctors whom I had seen in the USA are not good looking, and a couple of them look scarily deranged like those individuals who show up on police mugshots in the news, wearing dirty white coats. I was really grossed out by those white coats that aren't starchy white and that had traces of dark rings around the cuffs and collars. But you will never see that kind of white coats in a private hospital in Hong Kong, no no !
Other occasions when I witnessed how good the private "for-profit" healthcare in Hong Kong, was when I was visiting my mother who had her hysterectomy and my sister-in-law who had her C-Section. Those private rooms where they stayed were so nice that they made them feel like they were vacationing in a hotel and not being sick in a depressing hospital. My mother's surgery and hospital stay was 100% paid for by her catastrophic health insurance, which even though didn't cover pre-existing conditions for her, covered all new conditions. The premium was so low (compared to my health plan here in the USA) that the lack of coverage for pre-existing conditions wasn't an issue to my mom. That surgery and week-long hospital stay had more than enough paid off her premium. The hospital meals were so good that I actually paid my sister-in-law and my mom more visits than I needed to because I just wanted to have my meals there. Then there was the frequent rounding of the handsome doctors who actually took an interest in my sister-in-law's and my mom's personal lives. The doctors there were so reassuring, friendly and caring that they made them feel so safe and comforted. I slept with my mom on the night of her surgery in her room and it was really comfortable, like it was just a hotel stay. Then there were aids and nurses coming in to bring magazines to my mom and sister-in-law, to peel oranges, apples and even grapes for them, while offering great company and uplifting conversations.
Now back here in the USA, I had never witnessed healthcare at this level, even though I suspect that I'm not paying any less than what my mother paid for her catastrophic insurance and what my sister-in-law paid 100% out of pocket for the delivery of my niece. My sister-in-law paid approx. a total of $12,000 for her week-long stay and C-Section. I'm not sure what my mom's insurance paid for her surgery and hospital stay. But what my sister-in-law paid wasn't that much, compared to the fact that I paid thousands of dollars a year to just have health insurance in the USA, and to constantly pray that I will never have to ever use it because I have a $6000+ deductible... and I'm not sure if my insurance will pay 100% of the covered treatments or 80%, I forgot and I have to go back to re-read the fine prints.
So, as you can see, my sister-in-law living in Hong Kong doesn't have to really worry about getting health insurance because even if she doesn't have health insurance, paying 100% out of pocket can get her a better deal than what I pay here to be medically insured. It's because the overall medical cost in private hospitals in Hong Kong is a lot cheaper than in the USA even though the locals in Hong Kong think private hospitals and clinics are expensive, so many of them opt for the universal care offered by the government instead. For those who don't want to go to the government-run universal care, like my mom, they purchase catastrophic health insurance that they can use to go to private doctors and hospitals. The low premium and flexibility made such policies very popular among people like my mom, who prefer private hospitals but don't mind to be covered for each major condition only once in her life time. I doubt my mom will ever have another problem with her reproductive system though, since it was all surgically removed, but she will not have to worry, and god forbids, when she is going to have breasts cancer next time.
I don't think I will ever see a healthcare facility in the USA that can match those private ones in Hong Kong, in terms of comfort and patient dignity. It's because in Hong Kong, private hospitals can thrive at competitive pricing due to the lack of class action lawsuits or the extra high cost in bullshit compliance and paper works like here in the USA. In Hong Kong, private healthcare can focus on patient care, instead of paper pushing in the USA. This is just what I observe. correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not a doctor and I don't work in the healthcare industry.
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