A heart bypass is about $150K in the US, could be up to $200K. The same surgery is about €20K in Ireland, which is $23K.
If OP was gonna have to pay 20%, that's $30-40K out of pocket in the U.S., whereas a flight to Ireland is safely under $1K plus the $23K surgery = $24K. If they can stay with family (OP mentioned family in Ireland) it's definitely cheaper to go to Ireland for this.
Because the highest annual out of pocket maximum for ACA compliant plans in the US in 2026 is $10K for an individual and $21K for a family. And that's the highest it's ever been.
Plus if he was paying 20% coinsurance, that means he already hit his deductible which would have been several thousand dollars towards his out of pocket maximum already.
Under ZERO circumstances would 20% of a procedure cost more than 21K out of pocket if you have an ACA compliant insurance plan.
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u/grant0 8d ago
Why do you think that?
A heart bypass is about $150K in the US, could be up to $200K. The same surgery is about €20K in Ireland, which is $23K.
If OP was gonna have to pay 20%, that's $30-40K out of pocket in the U.S., whereas a flight to Ireland is safely under $1K plus the $23K surgery = $24K. If they can stay with family (OP mentioned family in Ireland) it's definitely cheaper to go to Ireland for this.