mahfuz

Shetty’s model is based on staffing doctors who are extremely well-trained and dedicated, yet are willing to take a 50 percent pay cut compared to what they would earn in the West.

So I would like to repeat my question: Is this strategy sustainable?

I don’t know the answer. I am merely asking the question.

Firstly, the article talks about, “Yet it is solvent, and its founder would like to roll out a similar model beyond India—maybe even into Europe and the U.S” So the strategy is not limited to Indian doctors. So the strategy of doctors taking a pay cut may or may not work. [But then you have Medecins sans frontieres’ as a counter]

Secondly, the cost of medical equipment and medicine, especially patent protected ones are quite high. This is true even for developing countries in the post-WTO world.

Thirdly, malpractice insurance rates are very high in some countries.

Fourth, developing countries have rural poor who need access to healthcare. Can they (and their immediate family) afford to stay in the city/town while their health care needs are taken care of?

Fifth, insurance companies that pay the cost of health care in developed countries may not like the idea of their money being used to subsidise uninsured and poorly insured patients.

I’m trying to determine if all of the above are barriers for scalability and sustainability.

His ambition is to cure the poor of the world for one dollar a day.

So what he’s saying is that for $30/month he would like to provide healthcare. Thats $30/year - which is very low by western standards but is still more than Rs. 15,000/year for an Indian which is actually not that low.

When you are in an insurance scheme, you often end up paying for other people (involuantarily). I pay (or rather my company pays for me about $2000/year) for insurance. Being relatively healthy I perhaps have to visit the doctor twice a year and definitely do not take $2000 worth of healthcare. The unused insurance is then used to pay for other people’s more serious treatments and to return a profit to the insurance company.

Right now Dr. Shetty might have a unique model based on compassion but if I understand his long-term plans he wants to provide healthcare for $1/day. He can afford to keep it that cheap because his doctors are willing to accept less pay, his overheads in the developing world are low and he is not trying to return a profit.

I applaud his efforts but see no major difference between this and health insurance.