Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Medical Insurance Versus Medical Tourism

Many folks that cannot afford the high-costs of medical insurance are going without. If something bad happens to them medically, they go to another nation where medical costs are lower. They call this medical tourism, where someone goes on vacation to get treatment where the prices cost less. Already many folks go from the US to Mexico for many medical procedures and dentistry, where the prices are a third or less of what they cost in the US.

What is wrong with this picture you ask? Well, it is simple, the US Health Care System is broken and it seems to be getting worse. The high costs of medical care have made medical bankruptcies the number one reason for bankruptcies, literally taking people's life savings. Insurance costs have become so high that many seniors simply cannot afford it anymore. "Houston, uh, we have a problem."

If we take a look at medical tourism we see that folks in Europe where their currency is stronger, come to the US for the medical treatments that they cannot get in their countries due to socialized medicine causing back-ups and delays, and increased costs for the best doctors that have left the system and only work for folks outside of the socialized medical system.

In the United States, many folks that simply cannot afford treatment due to cost, choose to go elsewhere to other nations where treatments are cheaper. And yes, some do go because there are treatments that appear to work that are not approved here in the United States. It's truly amazing what is happening in international healthcare, medical insurance and medical tourism these days.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.