S3.E6: Your Health Your Wealth - A Doctor in Your Pocket

Is telehealth actually cheaper, or just more convenient? This episode of Your Health, Your Wealth breaks down what a video doctor's visit really costs compared to going in person - from the US to the UK to India - plus when it makes sense to skip the app and get seen in person instead.

Disclaimer: This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or financial advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical concerns and a licensed financial professional for financial decisions.

Transcript

Telehealth: Convenience vs Cost

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hey everyone, welcome back to My Two Cents. I'm your host Mahima, and this is Your Health Your Wealth, where we look at what happens when healthcare and your wallet collide. Quick disclaimer, this episode is for educational and awareness purposes only. It is not medical or financial advice. It's 11 p.m. You've got a fever, an exam at 8 a.m., and no way to get anywhere. A few years ago, your options were basically wait in some kind of urgent care line or just grit your teeth until morning and hope the fever passes. Today, you open an app, talk to a doctor over video for 10 minutes, and a prescription shows up at your pharmacy before you've gotten back into bed. Today we're talking about telehealth, and it's changed how millions of people around the world get care and pay for it. Here's the question we're digging into today. Does easier also mean cheaper?

Why Telehealth Took Off

SPEAKER_00 1:24

In the US, video visits at doctors' offices went from something like one in six practices offering them in 2019 to more than 4 out of 5 by 2021. Across the Atlantic, the UK's NHS app, basically the government's healthcare app, has over 39 million registered users by the end of 2025. For context, that's more than double the number of Netflix subscribers in the entire UK. And in India, a free government telehealth platform has now handled over 300 million consultations. So, however you're listening to this, whether it's in the US, UK, India, or anywhere else, there's a decent chance a doctor's visit in your life happened over a screen instead of in a waiting room. Why did this take off everywhere and once? And why didn't it fade out once COVID did? It's not really the same story in every country. In the US, the government loosened up Medicare rules so people didn't have to physically travel to a rural clinic just to start a telehealth visit. And that change stuck around. In the UK, digital first healthcare was already part of the plan even before COVID. And in India, it's mostly about cheap mobile data. When data prices dropped by more than 90% starting around 2016, hundreds of millions of people got online for the very first time, right as free telehealth platforms were ready and waiting.

Is Telehealth Actually Cheaper?

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Okay, here's the part everyone wants to know. Does a telehealth visit save you, personally, money compared to walking into a doctor's office? The short answer, usually yes. A peer-reviewed 2026 study in the JAMA Network Open using real insurance claims data found the average telehealth visit cost patients around $97, compared to roughly $509 for an equivalent in-person visit. That's over five times cheaper. On top of that, telehealth patients in the study needed fewer follow-up visits. Researchers have found that easier access sometimes means people get care they wouldn't have gotten at all, rather than simply swapping one visit for another. For your own wallet, an individual telehealth visit costs less than the in-person equivalent. Now,

What You Save in US, UK, India

SPEAKER_00 4:20

what telehealth actually saves you personally depends enormously on what healthcare already costs where you live. In the UK, care through the NHS is free at the point of use. So the win for patients isn't really about the bill, it's about the time. Skipping the commute, skipping the waiting room, not burning half a day off work or school for a 10-minute appointment. In India, most healthcare spending there comes directly out of people's own pockets. And one peer-reviewed study found that nearly half of Indian households face what researchers call catastrophic health expenditure from a single episode of care, meaning one bad health event can wipe out savings or push a family below the poverty line. Against that backdrop, a telemedicine visit costing 56% less than an in-person one, mostly travel, lost wages, and sometimes an overnight stay at a near hospital isn't just convenience. So, three countries, three very different personal wallet stories.

Trade-offs To Consider

SPEAKER_00 5:37

A few things worth knowing before you assume telehealth is a straightforward win for everyone. First, access isn't equal. In the US alone, an estimated 24 million people don't have internet reliable enough to actually complete a video visit. So the people who might benefit the most from cheaper care are sometimes the same people who can't have access to it. And most of the research on telehealth so far comes from wealthier countries, so we know less about how well it works in rural or lower-income communities everywhere else. Second, free or cheap doesn't always mean risk-free. Healthcare data breaches are some of the most expensive kind there are. And one study found only 28% of telehealth apps even had a privacy policy. Worth knowing before you hand over your medical history to an app you may have downloaded just five minutes ago. And third, if you're using a paid telehealth subscription, like some form of online therapy platforms, keep an eye out for the actual monthly charge. Subscription pricings on these services isn't always obvious up front, and it's easy to lose track of what you're paying month to month.

When Telehealth Isn't Enough

SPEAKER_00 7:05

One more thing before we wrap up. It's not built for anything where minutes matter. In those cases, go get seen in person full stop, cost aside. Between definitely telehealth and definitely the ER, there's a wide middle zone, and that's where it comes down to your own judgment. If something feels off but not urgent, you know your own body and your own situation better than any app does. Trust that. A telehealth visit can also help you figure out the right next step. A lot of platforms tell you outright if what you're describing needs an in-person look.

Conclusion

SPEAKER_00 7:54

So, is telehealth cheaper care anywhere? For your own wallet, most of the evidence says yes. It's not a magic fix and it comes with real trade offs, but if you've got the option, it's definitely a good one for your bank account. That's it for your health, your wealth. Thank you for listening, and we're catch you next time.