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I think they need to qualify 'cheapest' because as a Brit I wouldn't have to pay anything (directly) for any of these things.

Now the costs of doing the procedures are probably lower, but I have no idea what they would cost in this country.

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In UK you are using NHS, a public service, funded out of your tax dollars. NHS spent over £124.7B in 2017/2018 so your average cost is about £2000/person. Not sure how you can break out costs for heart bypass but I suspect they will be much more than $2K/surgery. Narayana Hospital is private and has been profitable continuously, with $8M profit in 2017. And still their patient mortality rate is lower than the US (1.4% patients die within 30 days after heart bypass, compared to 1.9% in the US).

Somebody is paying, and even if you're not paying out of pocket it definitely matters how much the government is paying and economizing, because they have to stretch your tax dollar/pound too.

That's why I said "(directly)". But yes I agree with your point.

Its unclear to me whether figures quoted are prices you pay, or cost to do the procedure. Some at least appear to be the price you pay ("Shetty did it for about $10,000 and turned a profit"), which as I don't pay anything directly, suggests that they need to qualify 'cheapest'.

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