The Same Glasses, a Different Price

By Neil Solomon · 2 min read

Picture a woman named Yasmin, fifty-eight, who needs new glasses. At home, the eye exam costs $140, and the frames and lenses she likes come to $420.

Her cousin, who lives abroad, suggests she get a quote there before she buys. Yasmin does something she has never done with her health costs: she asks for prices. She makes a list of five things she pays for every year.

Five health costs, at home and abroad (an illustration)

$965 against $232.

Yasmin wonders why. A dentist and an optician abroad explain it to her. Rent, wages and equipment cost less where they work. Many products reach them through shorter chains. Some things are regulated in different ways. Insurance also works differently there, so prices are set differently.

Nobody in this is a villain. These are prices that came out of different rules, in different places.

Not every price falls. Some specialist procedures and new medicines cost the same or more abroad, and quality varies from one clinic to the next. Yasmin does not judge quality by price. She asks her cousin’s optician about training, reads reviews, and has the exam first, which is a short visit. Then she decides.

You could write your own list of five health costs you pay every year. You could ask for a quote for each in a place you are considering and set the two columns side by side. A second opinion from a local resident might be worth as much as the quote.

The monthly figures in our calculator cover ordinary spending. They do not include a person’s own health costs, which vary a great deal, so they are worth pricing by hand.

Which health cost would you price first? Tell us in the comments. Someone reading may be about to ask for their first quote.