THE FACTS: Russia is No. 1 for Healthcare tourism. Thank God, there is good, affordable, high-quality medical care available here in Russia. It literally saved my life!

During the first few months here, while you are still on your initial travel visa, you won’t have medical coverage supplied by the Russian government.

You either need to have some health plan with international coverage, or you need to pay for medical care out-of-pocket. After you receive a residence permit to live in Russia long-term, then you can receive a government-issued policy for free healthcare.

Eight years ago, shortly after I first moved here, I found out I had cancer. I had no choice but to pay out-of-pocket for surgery, medicine, meals, and a three-week hospital stay in a private room. The total bill was around USD 1500. Not bad compared to the UK/EU and the US.

I also had to have four 5-day hospital stays over the summer, so that I could endure various forms of chemotherapy. The quality of care I received was excellent, every bit as good as what I could have received in the United States.

When all was said and done, I think my total out-of-pocket expenses were around $10,000. . . which is probably less than I would have paid in America, just for the combined insurance premiums and copays.

Now that I am a legal resident of Russia, I don’t even have to pay that anymore. Medical care is basically free for me and my family now, because we have government-issued healthcare policies.

There are basically two types of healthcare available in Russia: free and paid

If you use your government-issued healthcare policy, then you get free healthcare. You may or may not like the hospital or the doctor. But at least it’s free. Most of the time, the quality is fine, so I don’t have a problem using this level of healthcare in most situations.

At any point, if you don’t feel comfortable with the care you get via the free policy, you are always welcome to go to a paid clinic instead.

If you are footing the bill, then you can choose a specific doctor that you want. Your out-of-pocket costs, in many cases, will still be much cheaper than what you would pay for insurance premiums and copays in America.

In our family, we usually use the free healthcare policy. For small, everyday sorts of healthcare needs, it works fine.

But what if something major happens? What if I get cancer again? In that case, I would probably choose paid healthcare, so that I could return to my favorite doctor in Moscow.

You can go back and forth between free clinics and paid clinics at will. On one particular day, you may use your free healthcare policy. On another day, you may decide to go to a paid clinic. It is your choice to go where you please.

Need a CAT scan or an MRI? They have the same equipment in Russia as they have in America, and the procedures in Russia are significantly more affordable. What costs two or three thousand dollars in America may only run two or three hundred dollars in Russia.

Need quality contact lenses? In Russia, contact lenses are of a very high quality, and they only cost a fraction of what they do in America.

Russia even has some cutting-edge medications which aren’t available in other western European countries.

One of my friends has an eye-degenerative disease. He used to live in Sweden, and the doctors weren’t able to do anything to help him.

Meanwhile in Moscow, the doctors can give him medicine which successfully keeps him from losing his sight. When he told the doctors in Sweden about this, they asked him, ’How are the Russian doctors doing it? What medications do they use?’ 

Suffice it to say, if your doctors are begging you to give them medical advice, then it’s time to get new doctors. That’s just what my friend did. He moved to Russia, so that he can continue receiving state-of-the-art medical care, and keep his eyesight intact. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

PLEASE SHARE OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION STORIES

Michael Walsh Books. To SAVE Click the ORDER NOW Button. https://michaelwalshbooks.wordpress.com/