Area resident outsources his heart surgery to India

By Sharon Sullivan
June 5, 2007

 Grand Junction CO Colorado

 Grand Junction —The roughest part of Joe Lindt’s recent heart surgery was the 14-hour flight to India where he had the procedure done.

Click to Enlarge Barbara Lindt sits next to her husband Joe Lindt in a hospital in New Delhi, India. Joe had triple bypass surgery there April 7. Courtesy photo

  Lindt could have had the triple-bypass surgery in Grand Junction, but the 63-year-old from Delta chose to go overseas instead.

    The Lindts arrived in New Delhi, India on Tuesday, April 3, where he was immediately admitted into the hospital. The surgery took place the following Saturday.

    By April 17, the Lindts were on their way back to Colorado.

    The hospital even arranged the trip back to the airport.

    “They took very good care of him,” said Barbara, who stayed with Lindt in his hospital room. “He’s thrilled. He complained about the flight (length) but has no regrets about the surgery.”

    It is estimated that 150,000 Americans traveled overseas last year for medical care. The number is expected to triple next year, according to Healthbase — a Web-based system that helps people research and arrange overseas medical care. The two-year-old Boston-based business has clients worldwide.

    With surgical care abroad costing a fraction of the cost of care in the U.S., many consumers are choosing the so-called medical tourism route to receive medical care. Even for people like the Lindts, who have medical insurance.

    According to Healthbase, approximate costs for bypass surgeries break down to $100,000 in the U.S., $40,000 in Mexico, $20,000 in Thailand, and $10,000 in India.

    A friend of Lindt’s had quadruple-bypass surgery in the U.S., and it cost him $158,000.

    The Lindts’ travel expenses, including their passports, came to $2,500.

    Hospital costs came to $9,200, said Barbara. The bill included an angioplasty, CT scans (performed because of a previous auto injury which left a clot in his brain), ultrasounds, daily medication, insulin, meals and housing for Barbara.

    Although they are insured and surgery in Colorado would have been at least partially covered, the Lindts didn’t want to jump through the hoops of getting insurance to pay for it, Barbara said.

    “It’s constant hurdles to get the insurance to pay for what they’re supposed to be covering,” Barbara said.

Many countries to choose from

    Four years ago an electrocardiogram showed blockage on the left side of Lindt’s heart. Lindt sees an endocrinologist because he has diabetes. That physician noticed Lindt had damage to his heart and recommended he see a cardiologist. The Lindts said they were told he needed heart surgery, but after an angioplasty showed the body had created its own tiny bypass, medication was recommended instead.

    Lindt wasn’t happy about that course of action, which included 11 new prescriptions, said Barbara. He felt if he had a bad reaction to one of the medications, it would have been difficult to know which one.

    Lindt didn’t go back to that cardiologist.

    Four years later he’s with a new cardiologist, Daniel Duffey. Duffey wanted to do another angioplasty on Lindt, because he felt Lindt might need heart surgery, said Barbara. This time Lindt said no, he just wouldn’t have the surgery.

    Lindt’s three grown kids protested.

    “I’m not saying I won’t have it done, I’m saying I won’t have it done here,” Lindt said.

    Meanwhile, Barbara had been researching medical tourism on the Internet. She discovered Healthbase. A couple of years earlier, Lindt had viewed a program on CBS regarding medical tourism.

    Healthbase arranges the trip, makes appointments, sets up phone conversations, and helps people get their passports or visas, said Healthbase CEO Saroja Mohanasundaram.

    “We recommend only good high-quality hospitals. We screen hospitals for accreditation,” said Saroja.

     Lindt’s doctor, ,, worked for more than 15 years at New York University Medical Center before returning to his native India to start a hospital there, said Saroja.

   More at: http://www.gjfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770605005&template=printart