Uninsured but Undaunted, a Surgical Patient Searched the Globe for a Deal

When surgery became unavoidable, a man with no insurance shopped around for the best price for a hernia repair — and saved thousands by traveling out of state.

By: Paula Andalo

Outlets: KFF Health News

Published: July 29, 2026

Words: 1,407

Last Updated: 5 days, 11 hours ago

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Around the end of last year, Ronmel Rangel, 63, began to feel a familiar discomfort in his lower abdomen. Twenty-five years earlier, while living in his native Venezuela, he had undergone surgery to repair a hernia on the right side of his groin.

Now, the same pain had returned — on the left.

This time, Rangel was in the U.S. and lacked health insurance. In 2019, he moved to Portland, Maine, where one of his …

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