Thread: Medical tourism draws Americans to seek health care abroad

Medical tourism draws growing numbers of Americans to seek health care abroad

Manoj Jain
April 4, 5:46 PM

When my father had a toothache, he saw a dentist in Boston who recommended a root canal and dental crown costing about $2,000. He decided to wait until he was in India, his native land, for holidays and had the procedure done there for $200. Extremely satisfied with the service and the price, my mother decided to have her two front teeth replaced, eliminating a wide gap that tarnished her smile, and estimated she had saved $3,000.

According to Deloitte consulting services, 875,000 Americans like my parents were medical tourists in 2010, traveling outside U.S. borders to receive health care: dental work, elective hip replacements, even bypass surgery.

I hadn’t given medical tourism or outsourcing much thought until a few months ago, when I was at the Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) Hospitals in Bangalore with Devi Shetty, the founder of the medical complex and a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon.

Shetty told me bypass surgeries cost his patients $2,000 to $5,000, a tenth of what it would cost in the United States. As a U.S.-educated doctor, I wasn’t sure whether I should feel threatened by or marvel at Shetty’s setup. But I was curious, so I asked him how he was able to realize such savings.

His formula was simple: Focus on the process and on volume. “If you are investing heavily in the process, the product naturally will be good,â€

And when illegals refuse to go home because they need medical care that only the U.S. can provide, that argument won't be valid.

When my father had a toothache, he saw a dentist in Boston who recommended a root canal and dental crown costing about $2,000. He decided to wait until he was in India, his native land, for holidays and had the procedure done there for $200. Extremely satisfied with the service and the price, my mother decided to have her two front teeth replaced, eliminating a wide gap that tarnished her smile, and estimated she had saved $3,000.

I wonder if this is another one of the foreign retirees we are supporting with our tax dollars? If he came at an early age, legally, and worked here for many decades more power to him. If he was sponsored by his son to come at an older age and never has contributed, what do we owe him?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/us/31elder.html

And, as this article, points out, services to that population are MUCH CHEAPER back in the old country in just about every case. I'm sure there yuppie offspring could afford to fly back to visit, and could also stay in touch via the Internet. They probably even have SKYPE! Plus an indigenous cultural support network, with no disabled veterans of foreign engagements, like we have.