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Here's an article I wrote a few years ago about my personal experience with health care in Brazil. The costs have gone up mostly because the dollar has fallen so badly against the Brazilian Real.

Health Care in Brazil

The politicians are engaged in a huge debate about health care in America. They should because it is the most expensive in the world without providing the best care possible.

In Brazil we have great medical coverage. I am personally with Unimed, one of the two largest insurers in Brasil. Right now, we are paying about US $420 a month for two people in their 60’s. That rate is without belonging to any group or from an employer. For this we are totally covered for office visits, hospitalization, tests, all meds given in the hospital, and no co-payments. Everything is covered except prescription drugs. Those are so inexpensive here, it hardly matters. The co-pays alone in the USA would cover the cost of my medications here. In many cases, the government subsidizes the cost of some drugs such as those for diabetes. Citizens below a minimum income level also receive essential care at reduced prices or at no cost.

For example, for my blood pressure I take two different meds, Lisinopril 20 mg, and Amlovasc 10 mg. I also take one aspirin a day. In 2002 in the USA this was costing me, with discounts, about $105 a month. I just bought a 3-month supply here (in Dec 2011) and it came out to be about $40 USD a month. The drug store delivers, too. So we just call it in and they bring it later that day. If it's urgent, they will come right away.

Care here is of the highest quality, too. In November 2005, I had a bulging disk that was pressing on the sciatic nerve and had been causing me constant pain for several months. The treatment for this is often a “slice and dice” procedure that is risky, painful, and requires an extended recuperation period. Here, I had a neurologist that was trained in a procedure called nucleoplasty. It was invented in São Paulo and available only in Brazil and England. It involved inserting a needle into the disk and using RF (radio frequency) energy to temporarily soften the disk material. The excess material was extracted through the needle until it no longer pressed on the sciatic nerve.

I had this procedure done in the hospital at ten AM and was home in my own bed by ten PM. Not only was the recovery (if you can call it that) measured in hours, I have had no trace of pain since then. The hospital care was excellent. Care was organized for the convenience of the patient, not the staff. There were no $25 charges for an aspirin or a band aid. The food was far better than I have had in any US hospital. Only the charges were “substandard” by US experience. In any case, it was all covered by my insurance.

Dental care is inexpensive here, too. I have had two tooth implants done at about $340 USD each. Regular dental exams, restorations, and cleaning are equally inexpensive.

It seems strange to me that a country as prosperous as the USA should find it impossible to provide health care at the same level and costs as Brazil. Yes, it’s true that drug companies spend a lot on developing new drugs and need to recover those costs. But how long should they continue to recover them? For example, generic-brand drugs in the USA, even many years after being introduced upon the market, are more expensive than similar drugs in Brazil. Then there is the question of new procedures such as my nucleoplasty. Why are these things so often pioneered in other countries and only slowly introduced into the USA? Is it excessive government regulation? The constant malpractice suits? The greed of the drug companies and the medical industry? Or is it a “combination of ingredients”?

Whatever the causes, there is no doubt the USA could do far better.