- Thread starter CFA123
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How to pay for Gringo Medical Care in DR?
My advice would be to go to a clinic not a hospital until you're stabilized,then make a fast getaway
to the nearest airport.That's what I would do.
My advice would be to go to a clinic not a hospital until you're stabilized,then make a fast getaway
to the nearest airport.That's what I would do.
Assuming there is a seat available for the flight, could they decide not to let you get onboard if you are in a serious condition ?
Yes, you have to be fit to fly. If shot through lungs, for example, you have to wait three weeks!
Time to think of plan B chaps!
Matilda
It really isn't that bad at all.
1. If seriously injured I doubt it would hurt that much. Didn't hurt at all when I was shot - not until around 12 hours later anyway.
2. Your body sort of shuts down, and you can't remember much about what happens and to be honest you really don't care if badly hurt, so you won't be worrying about where you are being taken and if all the correct things are being done.
3. If nice and gory, then you will have your picture taken and will have a chance of being famous in all the newspapers and on the tv.
4. If to make it to one of the good hospitals or clinics it will cost you a lot less than it would have in the US and if you have insurance you will be fine.
5. You might get a visit from the embassy.
6. You can practice your Spanish as most nurses and some doctors don't speak English.
7. It will give us something to talk about on DR1.
Matilda
1. If seriously injured I doubt it would hurt that much. Didn't hurt at all when I was shot - not until around 12 hours later anyway.
2. Your body sort of shuts down, and you can't remember much about what happens and to be honest you really don't care if badly hurt, so you won't be worrying about where you are being taken and if all the correct things are being done.
3. If nice and gory, then you will have your picture taken and will have a chance of being famous in all the newspapers and on the tv.
4. If to make it to one of the good hospitals or clinics it will cost you a lot less than it would have in the US and if you have insurance you will be fine.
5. You might get a visit from the embassy.
6. You can practice your Spanish as most nurses and some doctors don't speak English.
7. It will give us something to talk about on DR1.
Matilda
well, i am out of the government insurance plan back home so my only shot is DR. and after the treatment i received in clinica union i do not mind. i said for years that a good health insurance in DR is a must have, you never know what the future may hold.
i may not be a great fan of some of dominican doctors but those i visit regularly are all good. speaking spanish helps a lot because damn, you want to understand what is going on. this thread paints dominican health system in gleam colours. ok, the public sector sucks but major private clinics are as good as it gets (here). sure, for very complicated surgeries (heart transplant) or treatments (third degree burns all over the body) you'd be better off in USA or europe but seriously, guys, what are the chances? the worst that normally happens is cutting off some hemorrhoids
third best thing to complete insurance and spanish is having a trustful dominican who will have your back and help you when in need. i have an insurance, i speak the lingo and i have miesposo - i do not fear dominican hospitals
i may not be a great fan of some of dominican doctors but those i visit regularly are all good. speaking spanish helps a lot because damn, you want to understand what is going on. this thread paints dominican health system in gleam colours. ok, the public sector sucks but major private clinics are as good as it gets (here). sure, for very complicated surgeries (heart transplant) or treatments (third degree burns all over the body) you'd be better off in USA or europe but seriously, guys, what are the chances? the worst that normally happens is cutting off some hemorrhoids
third best thing to complete insurance and spanish is having a trustful dominican who will have your back and help you when in need. i have an insurance, i speak the lingo and i have miesposo - i do not fear dominican hospitals
So how would one start, (concerning insurance plans in the D-R) ?
I never seem the need to go to a Doctor or Hospital in any country, but I do fear being hit by a car or getting run over by one etc... yet I hear no D-R insurance plan covers those things.
Scenario:
A pedestrian is run over by a car/truck, the driver was not insured.
What happens to the Pedestrian, what insurance plan should the pedestrian have opted for beforehand ?
I never seem the need to go to a Doctor or Hospital in any country, but I do fear being hit by a car or getting run over by one etc... yet I hear no D-R insurance plan covers those things.
Scenario:
A pedestrian is run over by a car/truck, the driver was not insured.
What happens to the Pedestrian, what insurance plan should the pedestrian have opted for beforehand ?
The pedestrian goes to hospital, and hopes the driver pays before the pedestrian's family kill the driver.
Sorry to sound flippant but that is the way it is.
Matilda
That happened to me in 2008. Driver refused to give me insurance information and I was too injured to go to the fiscal to compel it. My local insurance paid the ER charge and a later seven day stay when gangrene set in. When released from the hospital, I returned to the US.
My US insurance tried to deny coverage, but was forced to pay even though it was an auto accident because it did not occur in the US.
My US insurance tried to deny coverage, but was forced to pay even though it was an auto accident because it did not occur in the US.
The driver refused to give you insurance information because I bet he had no insurance.
If you are in visual bad condition, they will not let you onboard a plane. I once had to drive a dying man to the airport because of he wanted to leave the country as soon as possible. At the airport i was told they would not let him onboard before a doctor had examined him first because of his condition.
Sooo what did i do?
A: I went to a doctor and together we manage to get him on hospital for free healthcare?
B: I went to the corrupt doctor who said he was in condition to fly after some thousands of pesos changed hands?
C: I went to a lonely place were i dropped the halfdead man off in the bushes after i had stolen his dirty clothes and 12pesos in change?
The right answer i "B", I found a socalled airport doctor on the airport who quickly said "No this man is way to sick to fly" - Then when we started to talk about how important it was for this man to see his family again, (while i magical had some thousands of pesos in my hand)- the doctor licked his own lips and quickly looked left and right before he said, Hrrrrm, well the patient seems fine, but let me fill out this papers saying the patient is in good condition.
Money changed hands, papers changed hands, and the doctor quickly acted like nothing.
We gave the papers to the check in, and they took the wheelchair into the waitingroom.
Sooo what did i do?
A: I went to a doctor and together we manage to get him on hospital for free healthcare?
B: I went to the corrupt doctor who said he was in condition to fly after some thousands of pesos changed hands?
C: I went to a lonely place were i dropped the halfdead man off in the bushes after i had stolen his dirty clothes and 12pesos in change?
The right answer i "B", I found a socalled airport doctor on the airport who quickly said "No this man is way to sick to fly" - Then when we started to talk about how important it was for this man to see his family again, (while i magical had some thousands of pesos in my hand)- the doctor licked his own lips and quickly looked left and right before he said, Hrrrrm, well the patient seems fine, but let me fill out this papers saying the patient is in good condition.
Money changed hands, papers changed hands, and the doctor quickly acted like nothing.
We gave the papers to the check in, and they took the wheelchair into the waitingroom.
That sure sounds like a plan for you. You are so obviously unhappy with this country that I cannot explain myself why you even consider any other options, besides not setting foot here again. Life is too short to be in a place we don't want to be in. At least that's what I think. I would never, for anyone or anything, live somewhere wanting to be somewhere else. Sorry, I had to get it out of my chest (or fingers)...
let us please refrain ourselves from the usual don't like it? gtfo! stuff. one cannot possibly like everything about DR without being chip or having been lobotomized.
what is important is not putting people in fear. i was attacked on the street in DR once: http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/63378-csi-pop.html and my last line of the post telling the story was:
this is it, people. bad things happen to you everywhere. i would not want to get sick or have an accident anywhere in europe (or USA if i ever go there) because i have no insurance and despite seemingly great service medically, it would be a major disaster for us financially. and speaking of money - all things in DR can be resolved with just this one thing. one could start from paying for a good insurance. and use some more money to convince a doctor to let you out of the country if you fear dominican health system that much. heck, you could easily pay some doctor to travel with you, if needed.
but mostly you need common sense. i know, it ain't that common after all. but do not panic. dominican doctors are surely good enough to pull out your own head that is stuck up your arse
and, at the very worse, in USA you'd die in a hospital, with tubes and wires sticking out of you. in DR you 'd die atop of a hot dominicana. :laugh:
what is important is not putting people in fear. i was attacked on the street in DR once: http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/63378-csi-pop.html and my last line of the post telling the story was:
this is it, people. bad things happen to you everywhere. i would not want to get sick or have an accident anywhere in europe (or USA if i ever go there) because i have no insurance and despite seemingly great service medically, it would be a major disaster for us financially. and speaking of money - all things in DR can be resolved with just this one thing. one could start from paying for a good insurance. and use some more money to convince a doctor to let you out of the country if you fear dominican health system that much. heck, you could easily pay some doctor to travel with you, if needed.
but mostly you need common sense. i know, it ain't that common after all. but do not panic. dominican doctors are surely good enough to pull out your own head that is stuck up your arse
and, at the very worse, in USA you'd die in a hospital, with tubes and wires sticking out of you. in DR you 'd die atop of a hot dominicana. :laugh:
dv8, I agree with you, and my intentions are not to be mean, and I apologize if I came across too aggressive. My point is that in order to survive here or anywhere else we need to have a state of mind suited to look for solutions. Whining all the time gets us nowhere. I don't think any of us chose to live or visit DR because we loved their institutions, or their level of organization, or their health care system, or the low tech society here. We come here in spite of those things. I am nobody to tell anyone what to think, or tell, or post, but I really believe that if we ask for information, and that information is provided to us, we have to assess the situation and look for a way around that if we don't like what we read or hear. It doesn't matter where we are from, but I'm pretty sure our countries of origin are not what they are because of us, but because of other people that during their time faced the same difficulties people in DR face today. And they didn't sit around and complained, they did what needed to be done to improve things, while enduring all the hardships.
I really think that above everything else, we owe respect to all the dominicans on this forum that come here in spite of all the bad things posted and give us advice, and above all things take us as one of them in their own country. That's why, besides the casual cynical remark, I try to keep things positive, because I have no right to bash on the people whose country lets me live and stay here, and enjoy the good things they are in no obligation to share with any of us.
I really think that above everything else, we owe respect to all the dominicans on this forum that come here in spite of all the bad things posted and give us advice, and above all things take us as one of them in their own country. That's why, besides the casual cynical remark, I try to keep things positive, because I have no right to bash on the people whose country lets me live and stay here, and enjoy the good things they are in no obligation to share with any of us.
Eventhough we live in a certain country doesn't mean we have to accept certain things
we find are lacking.Somethings are just not workable.I'm glad for all the information given,
I've been able decide for myself what's best for me.
The healthcare system in the DR,although it lacks the care received while in ones country
origin,doesn't mean that we no longer want to live there.Just that when it comes to being
in these facilities we have an option of either being treated in the DR or else where.It
doesn't mean that we don't want to be in the DR,just leaving to receive medical care some
place else.There's nothing wrong with that.
I'm glad for these posts because it has given me an option of what to do when I find myself in a
medical emergency.
Nobody who lives in a country is ever satisfied with everything.There will alway be something lacking.
For example,many,many Dominicans in the states sent there children to the DR on school vacations
because they feel that there children will fair off better there,than being in an environment surrounded
with gangs,drugs,etc.And yet they still live in the states.They just found a way to work around it,there's
nothing wrong with that either.
we find are lacking.Somethings are just not workable.I'm glad for all the information given,
I've been able decide for myself what's best for me.
The healthcare system in the DR,although it lacks the care received while in ones country
origin,doesn't mean that we no longer want to live there.Just that when it comes to being
in these facilities we have an option of either being treated in the DR or else where.It
doesn't mean that we don't want to be in the DR,just leaving to receive medical care some
place else.There's nothing wrong with that.
I'm glad for these posts because it has given me an option of what to do when I find myself in a
medical emergency.
Nobody who lives in a country is ever satisfied with everything.There will alway be something lacking.
For example,many,many Dominicans in the states sent there children to the DR on school vacations
because they feel that there children will fair off better there,than being in an environment surrounded
with gangs,drugs,etc.And yet they still live in the states.They just found a way to work around it,there's
nothing wrong with that either.
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You sound very patriotic.
I'm not patriotic to this country.
I came here because of my need to retire in a tropical Island, and at the time the D-R was the easiest residency to get (at the time).
Unfortunately when God was handing out countries to the nations he gave good climate and nice landscapes and beutiful beaches to the wrong people.
I use the D-R forum to get information from people who are well informed of how to make the best of a possible bad situation, if you don't like it don't EVER read my posts or answer them.
Good-Bye to you.