The problem
Needing care and affording it have become two different problems
Most Americans don’t think about the gap between the two — until they’re the ones facing the bill. Even with insurance, the math often doesn’t work out.
Our story
Arbitra is a service of
Doctors Inc.
Doctors Inc. is a Japan-based healthcare technology company founded by Dr. Takao Yanagawa, a neurosurgeon who spent his career performing brain surgery in regional hospitals — the kind of hospitals that keep entire communities running on too few doctors. Early in his career, he witnessed a tragedy that convinced him a single surgeon, however skilled, could only save so many lives — that the system itself needed to change. That conviction took him from the operating room into building Doctors Inc.
Over the years since, Doctors Inc. has built a network of more than 700 physicians, primarily board-certified specialists, and digital health platforms adopted by 400 companies. Its online care services have reached 250,000 users in Japan, and it has helped 34 medical facilities through the kind of operational overhaul Japan’s healthcare system needed.
Network size and the figures above for companies, users, and medical facilities are per Doctors Inc. public materials.
Dr. Takao Yanagawa
Founder & CEO, Doctors Inc.
Neurosurgeon · 2,500+ brain surgeries
Along the way, we kept hearing about a different problem, this one in the United States — people delaying surgery they needed, not because Japan lacked the answer, but because paying for care in America had become unpredictable, and often unaffordable even with insurance.
We asked what a real solution would require: hospitals we could vouch for, not just list; a price agreed before anyone travels, not after; and support in English at every step. We already had the first part, built over years of working directly with Japanese hospitals. Arbitra Health is what we built with the rest.
Before building Arbitra Health, we spoke with Americans across the country about the cost of healthcare and their openness to care abroad. What we heard shaped every part of this membership.
“However many surgeries one surgeon performs, the number of lives they can save is limited. Society doesn’t truly change unless the system itself does — that conviction is where everything starts.”
— Dr. Takao Yanagawa, Founder & CEO, Doctors Inc.
Language & communication
English, every step of the way
Every member works with an English-speaking care coordinator — not a call center, not a translation app. Your coordinator guides you from your first questions through treatment planning. Once you arrive in Japan, a coordinator on Japan time takes over for transfers, admission, and hospital contact.
Before you travel
Your coordinator explains the process, the costs, and the logistics in plain English before you commit to anything. Medical questions go to the hospital, and their answer is passed back to you as written.
During treatment
Your coordinator stays in contact throughout your time in Japan, relaying questions to your care team and confirming you understand what’s happening.
After you return
Your Japanese physician prepares a medical summary of your treatment.
Ready to get started?
You shouldn’t have to think about the cost of care every day. Start with membership, and take that question off your mind.
Available to residents of Texas, Florida, and Arizona who are 18 or older.