Thread: Health-care challenged Californians flocking to Mexico

Health-care challenged Californians flocking to Mexico

By Keith Darcé Union-Tribune Staff Writer
6:43 p.m. May 26, 2009

The pharmacy business in Tijuana is still booming, despite crackdowns by the state to weed out illegitimate operators. - John Gibbins / Union-Tribune

About 1 million adult Californians seek health care in Mexico each year – and that figure is likely growing as the recession expands the ranks of the uninsured who are drawn to cheaper care south of the border, said the lead researcher of the first major report on the topic released Tuesday.
These people live from the Bay Area to San Diego County. Most come to Mexico for prescription drugs and dental care, and a smaller number go for surgeries. Beyond finances, other factors prompting individuals to head south include language and cultural barriers.

Living within 15 miles of the border also greatly increases the likelihood of someone obtaining health services in Mexico.

Angela Tapia, 45, of San Ysidro crosses the border several times each year to see her gynecologist. She also had back surgery in Tijuana a decade ago.

“It's cheaper to go there,â€

Roughly half of the cross-border patients are Mexican immigrants, a statistic that might challenge the popular notion of Mexicans burdening California's hospitals and clinics by receiving all of their health care on this side of the border, said UCLA public health professor Steven Wallace, lead author of the new report.

Mexican immigrants who lived in California for less than 15 years were less likely to cross the border for care than those who had been in the country longer, the UCLA report said. Many shorter-term immigrants are undocumented, so they face risks every time they leave the United States and try to return.

This study is bogus.....classic example of the failure to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.

It states that roughly half of the patients are Mexican immigrants, however many shorter-term immigrants are undocumented and less likely to cross the border for treatment. Therefore, it can be assumed that most of the immigrants that do seek treatment are LEGAL immigrants, while ILLEGAL immigrants remain in CA and continue to burden its hospitals and clinics.

It disgusts me that US citizens feel that have to cross the border just to afford to PAY for medical care, while illegal aliens feel no shame in abusing our taxpayer subsudized ERs!!!!