The Medical Tourism Canard

[Polk]

Opponents of health care reform are often quick to say "If other counties have better systems, why do so many people come here for treatment?" Beyond getting into the fact that saying the system works well for those with a lot of resources (which is really what medical tourism is about at core) is not the same as saying a system is good overall, the fact is, Americans are much more likely to go abroad for treatment than foreigners are to come here.

An estimated 40% of all medical travelers are looking for the world's most advanced technologies, worrying little about the proximity of the destination or cost, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. It narrowly defined medical travelers as only those whose primary and explicit purpose in traveling was to obtain in-patient medical treatment in a foreign country, putting the total number of travelers at 60,000 to 85,000 per year.

U.S. Hospitals Worth The Trip - Forbes.com

And before you think it's a bunch of Europeans and Canadians fleeing their dreaded socialized medicine.

Most of those patients in search of the best care, including 38% from Latin America, 35% from the Middle East, 16% from Europe and 7% from Canada, are heading to the United States.

That's compared to Americans...

Indeed, Mexico is becoming a top destination for the multibillion-dollar "medical tourism" industry, joining countries including India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Experts estimate as many as 150,000 Americans travel abroad every year for lower-cost medical care.

U.S. patients choosing Mexican hospitals for price, quality | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Headline | National and International News

 

[Oddball]

Nothing like starting in about the tourism canard when your entire premise is based upon the cost canard.