That's true immediately, but over time the infrastructure shrinks to accommodate the reduced business. You end up with one fewer hospital and one fewer CT scanner.
What that is is a reduction in the quality of care.
Either a hospital without a CT scanner, or fewer hospitals to serve the community. The community I live in has two hospitals (plus a couple of outpatient surgical centers). If one of the hospitals was lost as a place to have surgery done, that would be okay. But if one of those were lost a place to care for sick patients, to provide ER services, etc., then the quality of patient care would suffer.
I get your point, but as a practical matter, when you take costs out of the American health care system and put that money into Costa Rica's, the end result is lousier health care for Americans. Even though the quantity is immeasurable, if you could measure it there would be a minuscule decline in the overall quality of health care.
Which was my original point, which is there is no free ride. While one individual saves money by going to Costa Rica, the health care system as a whole suffers. The quality of American health care is driven by profits and the potential for profits.
Again, it is kind of academic. Not enough people are ever going to go from the place where they can get the best health care to the place where they cannot just to save a few bucks. Most are not going to do this. I wouldn't and I'd bet you wouldn't either. And neither would RW. |
