Perhaps Stossel could do a piece on medical tourism?
Sick people come to the United States for treatment. When was the last time you heard of someone leaving this country to get medical care?
Thousands of Americans go overseas for expensive medical procedures they can't afford at home. India does top quality hip replacements for 1/4 the cost of US, heart bypass for 1/10 the cost.
U.S. insurers are looking overseas care to contain costs.
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With spending on health care in America topping $2 trillion, baby boomers aging and the pool of uninsured rising above 43 million, insurers, smaller employers and individual Americans without insurance are looking at overseas care as an alternative for costly treatments, even for complex procedures like heart surgery and procedures excluded from coverage in the United States. Already, more than 150,000 people travel abroad each year for health care.
According to “Patients Without Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism,” a new book by Josef Woodman, overseas care can trim 60 to 80 percent, or more, off the price of major surgeries. Its comparison, for example, shows that a heart bypass in India costs one-thirteenth the price in America, and many foreign hospitals also offer postoperative care that includes a high degree of attention from hospital staff members.
Several insurers have proven to be medical tourism pioneers. United Group Programs, a Florida insurance company, now offers plans that reimburse types of overseas care, and works with Apollo, a leading hospital in Chennai, India. Health Net, another insurer, now offers subscribers in Southern California some coverage at medical facilities across the border in Mexico.
In South Calorina, BlueCross BlueShield, one of the top brand names, recently signed an agreement with Bumrungrad, Thailand. Other major American health insurers are said to be considering covering some types of offshore medical procedures. The Joint Commission International, an organization that inspects hospitals, now analyzes foreign medical centers to see if they meet high American standards. |
