GMR Helps Patients Save

Joe Bender believes the cost of health care in the United States is out of control.
That’s why he started his own company, Global Medical Referrals LLC of Fayetteville, this spring as an alternative for patients wanting to save money on everything from dental work to plastic surgery.
GMR contracts with overseas hospitals to refer patients from the United States. All of the hospitals are Joint Commission International accredited and Bender inspects each one personally before it becomes part of the GMR network. Among the hospitals GMR deals with is India’s Apollo Hospital Group, the largest health care provider in Asia.
“I’ve had seven crowns done since 2000, and it hasn’t even cost me $1,000 yet,” Bender said. “That’s when the light bulb went off in my head to start something like this.”
Bender said he’s helped 20 dental patients, a patient needing knee surgery and a patient who needed a metal rod inserted into the femur get treatment overseas. He has two clients he’s working with now to get plastic surgeries.
GMR helps with passports, transferring medical records, scheduling of the surgery, travel arrangements and most everything involved in the trip. GMR comes up with a deposit based on the estimated cost and refunds anything remaining after the trip is completed.
“We find the top-level hospitals and doctors and basically take care of all the details,” Bender said. “Our service is free, but we get a commission from the hospitals for the referrals.”
The company’s Web site features a list of cost comparisons that include things like a heart bypass and valve replacement that would cost $45,000 to $55,000 in the United States would cost $6,500 in India and a hip replacement that cost $45,000 here would cost $6,000 in India.