TRIPLE CARDIAC BYPASS SURGERY STORY ON KHOU TV, 11 NEWS, HOUSTON

David had three clogged arteries. The self-employed Texas resident had his second heart attack in June 2007. The first time, his family had health insurance, but not now. David needed a triple bypass that would have cost about $250,000. Healthbase helped to arrange David's triple bypass cardiac surgery for 6% of this cost.

News Transcript

Anchor: 47 million Americans do not have health insurance . Many don't earn enough to buy their own policy but they make too much to qualify for Medicaid or they can't qualify because of a pre-existing condition. So what if you are facing serious medical problems? 11 News reporter Shern-Min Chow looks at a new industry - affordable major medical care outside the US .

Reporter: David J puts his heart into his work.

David: Right now I'm sore.

Reporter: Because for 5 months he couldn't.

David: I had 3 clogged arteries.

Reporter: The self-employed had his second heart attack in June. The first time his family had health insurance but not now.

Bobi (David's wife): And the difference is security versus paralyzing fear. It's awful.

Reporter: The 46-year old needed triple bypass . Total cost, about $250,000 he didn't have. His wife says, the hospital's response...

Bobi: ...they sent him home to die.

Reporter: Desperate, they began looking into a friend's suggestion - surgery overseas . They went to several medical travel Internet sites . Then approached a cardiologist .

Dr. Anil Odhav (cardiologist): That's a 99% narrowing right there and that's an 80% blockage.

Reporter: Dr. Anil Ohav's diagnosis...

Dr. Odhav: Certainly it's a very good option for him because of the fact that he has exhausted all of his options in Houston.

Reporter: Dr. Odhav, who tells us he is not connected with any of his ventures, advised Jones on how to do an Internet background check. He adds, the US Joint Commission that credentials US hospitals, now credentials foreign hospitals.

Dr. Odhav: A lot of the physicians are actually trained in the United States and Europe.

Reporter: The Jones settled on Healthbase and a hospital in New Delhi, India . Dr. Odhav worked by phone and email with the surgeons there. Turns out he had 4 previous uninsured patients go overseas for surgery.

Dr. Odhav: They have all been very well.

Reporter: Regardless, when Jones and his brother arrived...

David: ...scared to death. You are going to, basically, a third world country.

Reporter: It was an odd mix of old and new.

Buddy (David's brother): The EKG there had suction cups on it. It was like stepping back in time.

Reporter: But the surgical suites and other areas had modern equipments . This is a nuclear camera used to take pictures of the heart. The same kind of high-tech equipment is used by hospitals in the Far East and perhaps surprisingly purchased sometimes for as little as a third of the cost that US hospitals pay for them. That, along with lower labor, malpractice and overhead costs meant everything was cheaper . From drug like a generic Plavix...

David: ...this is $200 a month. This was about $5-$6...

Reporter: ...to the operation and travel expenses...

David: ...about $16,000-$17,000...

Reporter: ...a cost savings with which even some US insurance companies are now experimenting.

Dr. Odhav: Healthnet and Blue Shield have actually issued some insurance policies which will let patients go across the border to get certain kinds of healthcare.

Reporter: But nothing would have been possible if not for the family's curch. Westland Baptist and friends raised all the funds.

Bobi: If God hadn't pulled off this remarkable thing through our family and our friends, things would be very different.

Reporter: David Jones' good fortune continues. His surgery seems successful. He and his family are grateful. He can work and play again. Shern-Min Chow, 11 News.

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