Latest / Anele and the Club on 947 / Would you travel out of South Africa for cheaper healthcare somewhere else?

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Would you travel out of South Africa for cheaper healthcare somewhere else? · Anele and the Club on 947

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I discovered something over breakfast yesterday. Because you know me.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: When I hear of a scam, I'm just like, what?
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: How are people doing something? How are they making money?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: So this isn't necessarily a scam and it's not necessarily illegal.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: But it's how people across the globe are making their
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: money stretch further. There's something called medical tourism. Have you
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: heard about that? Do you know that term? Medical tourism.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Medical. No, you only know it because you know everybody
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: goes to do their bams in Turkey. Oh, is that
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  Speaker 1: what it is? Does that count? Yes, it does count.
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  Speaker 3: So it's when you travel somewhere else to get like
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: medical treatment.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 4: Right.
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  Speaker 1: So it would appear that because cruise ships, and this
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: is all on hearsay, right? Because cruise ships always have
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: like doctors and people on board because you guys are
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: on there for 12 days. People save any of the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: checking up that they need to do until they're on
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: a cruise ship. Because that way it's covered by your
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: travel insurance. Oh, so it's cheaper then to do it
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that way. It is cheaper to, because I mean, America,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: for instance, their healthcare is through the roof. No one
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: can afford to go anywhere in America. So what you
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: do is you just book it, like now you're on
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: holiday and then you somehow do your medical checkups as well.
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  Speaker 4: But that makes sense because think about it. If you're
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: American or if you get paid in dollars, right?
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: And you needed like a bunch of tests run, let's say,
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: and you're going to be in Cape Town for three
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: weeks on holiday, it'll probably cost you less than it
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: would if you were doing the same set of tests
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: or any sort of procedure back home.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: But isn't this also just a case of people travel
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: to go get something done in a different country and
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: then with the package, it's like, and then you can
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: relax in our resort afterwards for five days where all
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: your meals, like you recover.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: And it's generally cosmetic, am I right?
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Or is it in general? In general. It's in general. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: because a general doctor's visit, right? In America, it costs
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: between 1,700 and 5,000 rand. In South Africa, it's 900 rand. Actually,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, we didn't travel for the reason.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: But now that I think about it, it possibly does
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: work because when we went overseas, my daughter got a
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: very bad ear infection and we had to go see
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: a doctor. And they ended up, We ended up going
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: to see an ENT. I don't know how because we
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: didn't speak the language. And then, actually, we did turn
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: back for my medical insurance now that I think about it. Yes.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: So this makes sense.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: 011-8838-947.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Have you heard of this? Have you done it yourself? And,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: you know, how does it work out for you? I
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: just find that because medical procedures in South Africa are
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: generally quite reasonably priced and free if you go to
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: a public hospital. I don't think South Africans are people
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: who do this much, but apparently Americans are doing it
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: all the time. For instance, a tooth filling in America
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: costs $ 6, 600, the equivalent of that. In South Africa, $ 1, 600.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: So you see, if you were on holiday in Cape Town,
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: so you use that time then to get your filling.
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: But South Africans, just on dental work, where are you
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: guys going for the donkey teeth and are they cheaper there?
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: Everyone who's getting the dentures. Like everyone's mouth is a game.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Why do they have to be donkey teeth? Have you
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: seen them? They're never the right size. Yeah, they look
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: like AirPods. To each their own though. Love it for you. 011-8838-947.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Have you ever heard of medical tourism? Have you done
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: it where you travel to another country to have a
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  Speaker 1: procedure done? Because it's cheaper there. Do you have American
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: friends who come over here and they're like, oh, I'm
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: just going to have a few teeth fillings done. And
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to get my glasses. Apparently people
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: as well, they'll always get their glasses whilst they're traveling
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: because it's expensive. I'm going to run you through the
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: numbers again. Getting your glasses in America, 4,000 rand. South Africa,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: between 1,000 and 3,000 rand. In the UK, 6,000 Rand.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: In Thailand, 1,500 Rand. But by far, India's the cheapest.
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  Speaker 1: How much are they paying? Yeah, 1,000. Oh, okay. That
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  Speaker 1: is like less than half. Yeah. For most of these procedures,
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  Speaker 1: India comes out the cheapest. In America, to get an
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: ambulance to come get you, basic, between 8,000 and 23,000.
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  Speaker 1: South Africa, between 450 and 4,000. Okay, in the UK,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: it's under NHS, so it's low cost, so it's free. Thailand,
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  Speaker 1: to get an ambulance, it can cost you up to
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  Speaker 1: 800 grand. That's incredible. Oh. So do you see what
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I'm saying?
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  Speaker 6: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I'm just thinking how this works. Okay, now I'm going
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  Speaker 3: to fly overseas in perfect health.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I think you pair it with the holiday. I think
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: you would pair it with the holiday. So if you
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: know you're going to go on holiday to a specific place,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you get your teeth done, you get your prescription glasses
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  Speaker 1: done as well, you get your checkups and all of that,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: and then it ends up being cheaper because you are
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: going to go on holiday anyway. And then you just
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: relax for five days. Exactly.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: With your new teeth, hey?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Tim McGeeley on the beach, beaming. Looking like flashlights here.
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  Speaker 4: 084-00-00-947.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know about this? They are calling it medical tourism.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Have you heard of somebody who did it? Have you
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  Speaker 1: done it? Let us know. Give us the scoop. Medical tourism.
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: It's those ones that go to countries to give birthdays
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: so that their children can have citizenship. Americans go to
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: Mexico for their dental checkup and their dental work.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Talking about medical procedures done overseas.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Do you know how many people go to Turkey for
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: hair transplants?
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Me and my girls are planning a trip next year
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: to Thailand. So we've been talking about travel insurance. We're
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: going to look into it.
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  Speaker 4: And there's a family, that one that was on the
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  Speaker 4: news a few weeks back that went to America.
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  Speaker 3: They came back to South Africa for medicine.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: You see?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Because, guys, medical expenses in America, they are wild.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: You literally have to be a billionaire, bro.
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  Speaker 7: And the ladies that are going to Thailand, the general
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  Speaker 7: doctor's visit is the cheapest, according.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: To the research. Yes, yes, yes. They are charged in Asia.
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  Speaker 1: It's about 165 rand. What's expensive in Thailand is giving birth.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: 83,000 rand. So don't have any babies there, ladies. Don't
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: do that. Your teeth filling, you could get it for 580.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: But please do your own research. This is our research.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Don't hold us to it. If you're going to get
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: your appendix removed in Thailand, about 13,000 rand. Getting your glasses,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: 495 rand. So there we go. Natasha, talk to us.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Have you traveled to have a medical procedure done?
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Good morning. So, hi, Anila and the club.
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  Speaker 6: Morning, Natasha.
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  Speaker 2: I'm pretty excited to be on the show. It's my
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  Speaker 2: first time.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome. Thank you.
• 6:52
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: So, my story is a little different. My best friend,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Colleen Thompson, I know she's listening.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, Colleen.
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  Speaker 2: And I was traveling to Vegas on a girl's trip.
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  Speaker 2: And because it was so hot, I was severely dehydrated
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  Speaker 2: and I collapsed.
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  Speaker 1: What? So.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: I had to be rushed to a hospital and they
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  Speaker 2: had ran a bunch of tests and that was $ 10, 000
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  Speaker 2: that I had to pay from my credit card but
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: medical insurance covered thereafter.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just happy you had $ 10, 000 in your credit card.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Well, it was Vegas.
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  Speaker 1: I had to have money. Oh, so you were planning
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: on spending it at the slots and then you fainted.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I do not gamble, but shopping, yes.
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  Speaker 1: And is that where your holiday ended? Because you were
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: just like, well, that's it, I'm going home.
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  Speaker 2: Nope, we continued and we had the best time ever.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you almost died, of course. You're living in your
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: last days. I'd also tag it out. I'd also, it's
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: like your last meal on death row. You're like, well,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: if I'm going to go, I'm going to go in Vegas.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Exactly, and I'm going to do it good.
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  Speaker 1: And how long before insurance paid you back?
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: It took about a month.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: And were you back in South Africa by then? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I was. That's a lot of money. I think I'm
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: priced out of this conversation. Okay. All right. Natasha, thank
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  Speaker 1: you for this. You see, when you travel to these
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: places and you're like, oh, I've got travel insurance. What
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  Speaker 1: does it mean? Will it pay out when I'm there?
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  Speaker 1: Or will I have to foot the bill and then
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: they pay me back? What does it mean to have
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: travel insurance? Yaku, you're in Brakpan. Good morning. Morning, morning.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: How are you?
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: We're great, Yaku. Talk to us.
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: So I do a lot of shutdown work in Mauritius,
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: like once a year for maybe a month or two
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: and on the power stations. And before I went there,
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: I hurt my back, but I didn't have any medical aid.
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: So with the new COVID rule that came out, you
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  Speaker 6: have to have travel insurance when you go to Mauritius
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  Speaker 6: or anywhere else. I'm not sure about the other countries.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: It is true.
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  Speaker 6: But it's a new thing now. And when I arrived there,
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: my boss said to me, well, you've got travel insurance.
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  Speaker 6: Let's just say you got hurt at work and then
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: you can have that MRI that you needed to see
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: where the actual problem is on your back. And I
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: went and I paid everything in cash. And when I
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: managed to see where the problems was, they helped me
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  Speaker 6: with all the medical things that I needed. And then
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: when I came back within a month, I paid all
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: the money back. And it only cost 900 grand for traveling.
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  Speaker 1: And you were still in Mauritius. My word.
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  Speaker 6: That's the good thing about that, having been there for
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: the last 10 years. Almost 50,000 have traveled there.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you guys, there's something to this. Like if
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: you're going to travel, just anything that you've been putting all,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: because of price, right? Just check how much it costs
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: to do it in that country. I think it's just
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: one of those loopholes, right? Is it entirely ethical?
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: Yeah, but don't go too deep in the rabbit hole
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: now because then you'll be adding things that you don't need.
• 10:14
  Speaker 7: Now you are there on the flight back with a
• 10:17
  Speaker 7: bald head. With stitches and stuff.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, because my hairline is receding a bit here
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: on the right. Anil, your hairline. I'm wearing a wig, Ndabe.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: This is not my real hair. Underneath here, just on
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: this side. I could do turkey, just on this side.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: You're looking sporty. You know what I'm saying? Get my
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: hair back. Lisedi, good morning.
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: Good morning, Anil in the club.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Morning, Lisedi.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: I'm good, thanks.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: And yourself?
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Talk to us.
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so it was interesting. I had a patient this
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: other time. They're Americans, but they traveled to South Africa
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: to do a laparoscopic surgery. And I just asked her, like,
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: why wouldn't you do it in America? She said the
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: cost to travel to South Africa and do the surgery
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: is actually less than to do the surgery in America. Like,
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: they're actually saving money. And they get to travel as well.
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: So they get to travel out of it, but they're
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: also saving instead of doing the surgery in America.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: So accommodation, flights, visas, all of that, and the procedure
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: cost them less to do in South Africa than to
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: do it in America. That's wild.
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: A hundred percent.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: And also, I believe some South Africans who immigrate and
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: they go live elsewhere, they still keep their medical aids going.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: And every time there's a procedure to be done, they
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: just fly back.
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: Yes, so they had medical aid. That's why I presume
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: the medical aid is what helps. But basically, they still
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: had medical aid, but the cost for everything was less
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: to do in South Africa, even though they had to
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: travel to South Africa instead of doing it in America.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I know. The prices are wild. Thank you so much, Lucili,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: for this. It's a pleasure.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: Enjoy your day.
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: You too.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: Then I think as South Africans, we also, like as
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: much as we.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Like to rag our country.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: We like to run our country into the ground. At
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: the end of the day, we take for granted that
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: if you want to see your GP today, you will
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: see your GP today.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: Nine times out of ten.