[Note : I'm still in my funk and even my camera is not being cooperative. Not sure why the blur exists, but I'm too unmotivated to retake the pics ... ignore please]
While we were state-side, we had occasion to visit our old pediatrician. Everyone at the office remembered us and it was a breath of fresh air to have a doctor's visit happen the way we are used to.
In short order, we had some meds prescribed and then in even shorter order, realized we'd have to pay out-of-pocket because of our new "global" insurance.
No worries. We'll just file a claim when we get back to Delhi.
The friendly pharmacist produces the bill ...
$168.48 -- for one bottle of ear drops and one tube of ear cream for a recurring skin funk. The bottle of ear drops was $138 all by itself.
So I thought ... it might be an interesting experiment to see what they same meds would cost here in Delhi.
I walked into the neighborhood chemist and presented my wee bottle of ear drops and tube of cream. I asked if he had the exact same thing for me to take home.
He pored over the ingredients, wrote some things down and after yelling upstairs in Hindi, cupped his hands and readied himself for the medicine to be dropped down.
I took my turn in poring over the contents. Yep, the same medicine. Same percentages of all of the right healing combinations to fix our little Mia. Appropriate expiration date and an exact match to what I'd carried on the plane from Ohio.
The chemist wrote up a bill.
The total for the exact same two medicines?
Rounded up, it's Rs. 63 ... or $1.38.
Now, I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of medicine, insurance and the medical profession - but the huge price difference just strikes me as more than just a bit bothersome. That, and the fact that I've yet to hear from our insurance company about my efforts at filing a claim for reimbursement.
