Comparative costs of healthcare in major expat destinations

Whether you’re moving overseas for business or pleasure, you’d be well advised to research local healthcare costs.

Expats heading overseas on assignment are more likely than not to have their private healthcare insurance costs included in their relocation package, but those heading off on their own for retirement or entrepreneurship would do well to examine healthcare provision and insurance costs. Charges for private treatment vary hugely from location to location, but they’re never cheap even if they seem so in comparison with costs in the home country. A recently published report covering healthcare costs in 25 world countries tells it like it is, breaking costs down to medical procedures and the price of prescription drugs.

The report's results are surprising, to put it mildly, with the USA and UK amongst the most costly places to get sick. For example, a heart bypass in the USA costs a staggering $78,318, whilst in Spain it’s just $14,579. A colonoscopy examining the inside of the large intestine will set private patients back $3.059 in the UK, £372 in Australia and $589 in a Spanish hospital. Britain is one of the most expensive world countries for a number of procedures including cardiac catheterisations and abdominal CT scans, whilst the USA charges the most for childbirth at $16,106 for a caesarean and $10,808 for a normal birth. Cheapest in this sector was South Africa, where the same services cost just $2,192 and £1,271 respectively. South Africa is also tops for reasonably priced knee and hip replacements at $7,795 on average, whilst US hospitals pocket $28,184 for the same surgeries.

Comparative prices for dentistry follow the same trend, with root canal treatment in France at $421, $1,100 in Canada and $2,900 at a Singapore dental practice. Overnight hospital stays vary according to location, with the USA charge highest at $5,220, the cost in Canada set at $2,841 and the bargain basement price prizes going to Italy at $661, China at £582 and Singapore at $780. It’s obvious that expat healthcare insurance is a necessity for expat professionals sent overseas by their companies but, like so many other necessities, self-pay private healthcare insurance costs don’t allow affordability for those on less than generous salaries or average retirement pensions. Almost every country worldwide has public hospitals, but many disallow expats from their use and others offer low standards of treatment. Like so much else in the non-corporate expat world nowadays, it’s all about the money.