"Many say that America is expensive. I stay here, and I will give you an example to explain how it is expensive," said Vijayvergiya, adding that the incident took place on Christmas when he was out on the rink with his wife and daughter.
After suffering the knee injury, Vijayvergiya decided against taking an ambulance and preferred to take a taxi to reach the ER.
“The cost of an ambulance here is very high, so calling an ambulance was out of the question," he said, adding that he underwent an X-ray while the doctor tied a crepe bandage.
Almost three weeks later, Vijayvergiya received a bill from his insurance provider that he would have to pay around Rs 1.65 lakh ($1,800). This out-of-pocket expense was on top of nearly Rs 3.6 lakh ($4,000) that the insurance already paid for his treatment.
“That's why America is so expensive, that's why salaries are high in here,” Vijayvergiya stated.
As the video gained traction, social media users agreed with Vijayvergiya's assessment about America's expensive healthcare system, with some sharing similar experiences.
"Hope you can understand how we work here and how efficient the Indian doctors are. Be it the availability or the effectiveness," said one user, while another added: "You could have got robotic knee replacement surgery in India for this price."
A third commented: "I work in US pharma and believe me, the healthcare system in the US is the absolute worst. It is much better in India."
A fourth: "I was sitting in the emergency room for 8 hours without treatment, and still there was no treatment, and my insurance paid $3000."
