{"id":746370,"date":"2026-07-06T11:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/746370\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T11:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:41:08","slug":"%e2%82%b942000-for-medicines-%e2%82%b923000-doctors-fee-indian-man-left-stunned-by-us-medical-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/746370\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216; \u20b942,000 for medicines, \u20b923,000 doctor&#8217;s fee&#8217;: Indian man left stunned by US medical costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"content\">An Indian senior citizen&#8217;s account of navigating the US healthcare system has sparked a discussion online after he claimed that a medicine that costs around  \u20b92,500 in <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/india\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"India\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">India<\/a> ended up costing the equivalent of  \u20b942,000 in the US.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/photo-1686409277233-64922c0557ac_1783332247872_1783332260625_2a3257cf-799e-466f-8f96-d14fb4f473b8.jp.jpeg\" alt=\"Sinha said that the medicines were manufactured by Cipla and labelled \u2018Made in India\u2019. (Unsplash\/Representational image)\" title=\"Sinha said that the medicines were manufactured by Cipla and labelled \u2018Made in India\u2019. (Unsplash\/Representational image)\" width=\"360\" height=\"202\" loading=\"eager\"\/>Sinha said that the medicines were manufactured by Cipla and labelled \u2018Made in India\u2019. (Unsplash\/Representational image)<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">In an X post, user Adhir Sinha shared that he had been staying in <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/seattle\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"Seattle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Seattle<\/a> with his wife for 2 months. He recounted how they had to seek medical help after the supply of medicines they had brought from India ran out. His wife had been recovering from a respiratory illness using medication prescribed in India, but they needed a prescription after exhausting their stocks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;As our supply ran out, So, I asked my daughter to schedule an appointment with a pulmonologist (respiratory specialist) in Seattle. We had to consult a general physician first. We were given an appointment for a week later-and that too, only via a video call,&#8221; Sinha wrote in the X post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;We spoke to the doctor on the phone for about 10 minutes. He said he understood the issue and prescribed appropriate medicines,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">However, he said that the prescription was not immediately available and would take 4-5 days to arrive. &#8220;We finally received the medicines on the fifth day,&#8221; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Sinha said that the medicines were manufactured by Cipla and labelled &#8216;Made in India&#8217;. He wrote that despite having US medical insurance that covered half the cost, they still paid the equivalent of  \u20b921,000. &#8220;This means medicines costing just  \u20b92,500 in India cost a staggering  \u20b942,000 in the US,&#8221; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Sinha further said that it took 12 days to receive the medicines that would have been readily available at a neighbourhood pharmacy in India. He also stated that a week later, he also received a doctor&#8217;s consultation bill of $283 (around  \u20b923,000).<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Calling India an ideal place for retirees, Sinha argued that many conveniences available to the Indian middle class remain difficult or expensive to access abroad. &#8220;Consider yourselves to be fortunate to be living in India during your retirement years,&#8221; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;We often look abroad in search of a &#8216;good life.&#8217; But if we pause to think&#8230; certain everyday conveniences-unavailable even to billionaires in London or New York-are easily accessible to the middle class in India,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Sinha further went on to list 7 advantages of living in India, including affordable mobile data, quick-commerce services, easy access to healthcare, domestic help, <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/topic\/upi\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"UPI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UPI<\/a> payments, everyday conveniences such as free drinking water at restaurants, and strong community support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;India is not merely a country; it is a wonderful world filled with conveniences at every turn,&#8221; Sinha concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">(Also Read: <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/trending\/lonely-expensive-ruthless-indian-woman-says-she-cannot-romanticise-america-anymore-101783255381552.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"&#039;Lonely, expensive, ruthless&#039;: Indian woman says she \u2018cannot romanticise America anymore\u2019\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8216;Lonely, expensive, ruthless&#8217;: Indian woman says she \u2018cannot romanticise America anymore\u2019<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>What did social media say?<\/p>\n<p>The viral post prompted mixed reactions from social media users.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">One user wrote, &#8220;Cost of living is high for the quality of life !! Main thing i like is the low cost of basic food in India is possible! If you&#8217;re even low income you can manage without processed food! Food industry to have so much processed food is cut cost which affects low income a lot!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;Yes, agree that all the plus point you listed for India. But general quality of life &amp; life expectancy is far lower in India compared to US. We need young leaders to make our country better, great infrastructure and less corruption,&#8221; commented another.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&#8220;Agreed, if you are upper middle class, India is the best place. But, the country as a whole should focus on keeping surroundings clean, and also peesonal hygiene,&#8221; wrote a third user.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Indian senior citizen&#8217;s account of navigating the US healthcare system has sparked a discussion online after he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,320407,320405,243,320406,156878,304330],"class_list":["post-746370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-healthcare-challenges","tag-indian-senior-citizen","tag-medication","tag-medicine-cost","tag-respiratory-illness","tag-us-healthcare-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}