Medical tourism has long been an aspect of the medical world. From countries thriving on internationals receiving medical procedures to the dark side of this practice, there is much to be uncovered.
But why would Americans travel outside the US if we are a developed Western nation? Shouldn’t our healthcare system be one of the best? Not exactly. Whether it be due to the quality of care or the cost of care, it seems that many Americans prefer the medical treatment in other countries.
Especially in regard to cosmetic medicine, countries such as Costa Rica, Thailand, and Mexico strive off of American medical tourists. Americans are insinuated by many of these countries’ low prices and great quality of healthcare. Why would an American not want to travel to receive the same surgery for a fraction of the cost?
The first idea that arises in this controversy is: why are American treatments are so much more expensive than those of other nations even though the quality is not necessarily better?
The first reason is that the United States is a much more advanced country technologically, increasing the cost of living, and therefore the cost of care. Secondly, the US medical system is almost completely profit-driven. Most of the entities involved such as insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and even providers are looking to make as much money as possible. This leaves patients to cover many costs.
Alongside the US being so expensive, other countries are also just cheaper. Many of the nations that thrive on American medical tourism have to compete with one another, meaning that the price has to be low enough for the nation to hold a stake in the market. Since these nations are much less affluent than the US, they can afford to drop their rate much lower than it would be possible for any Western country.
![How U.S. Healthcare Spending Per Capita Compares With Other Countries [Infographic]](https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/5d4be2265040990008805ab0/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&crop=933,525,x6,y91,safe&height=900&width=1600&fit=bounds)
(Healthcare Spending Per Capita)
The American Journal of Medicine states that “in 2007, … 750,000 Americans traveled to other countries for health care. In 2017, more than 1.4 million Americans sought health care in a variety of countries” (Dalen). It is clear that as the price of healthcare continues to rise in the US, more and more citizens will be traveling to get their healthcare done elsewhere.
For the United States, this is a tremendous loss of patients. As hospitals and medical companies get more money hungry than ever before, they are losing paying customers to other nations. An issue that is now on the rise is the concern over the safety of many overseas procedures. Due to these extraordinarily high rates, many less financially secure Americans have to risk serious complications just to be able to afford necessary procedures. Many countries do not share the same level of medical safety as the US, placing our citizens at risk.
Dalen, James E. Medical Tourists: Incoming and Outgoing – the American Journal, 15 July
As someone with family outside of the US, it is a major shock to learn that they are able to be given a level of care that would easily be thousands with insurance in America for much less. I do agree with you that the issue of American healthcare seems to be due to the profit-driven margin of the system. However, I doubt that much will change as this country is strongly based in the principles of free market economics. Although, this is very unfortunate as this means, as you wrote, many choose to leave the US for cheaper, but concerning qualities of treatment. What changes in policy do you think could help solve or at least alleviate this situation? Do you think that it is even possible to fix at this point?