Why Some Americans Prefer Mexican Healthcare

mexicalhealthcare
“And then you get a story coming out of California of people crossing the border to get quality health care. Sadly, the people it’s people leaving the U.S. to get care in Mexico. You see, health care reform in California is working SO well, no one can get a doctor’s appointment. Instead of waiting for who knows how long to see a medical professional, Americans are finding it easier to take a day trip south of the border to see someone there.

Why Some Americans Prefer Mexican Healthcare

Dear Laissez Faire Today Reader,
The Affordable Care Act was supposed to make things better. That’s what you were told. Has it?
Who knows?
And frankly, who cares? You shouldn’t have to weigh the pros and cons of a government program that forces you to purchase something. Especially when the only people providing the service are corrupt corporations in bed with the politicians who wrote the law.
Alright, enough ranting from us. Has the ACA actually made things better? The problem with the health care overhaul, as well as most government programs, is there’s no way to get a clear picture. The program is so big and so vast that if you focus on one bad aspect, you can just as easily point to another aspect that’s good.
For example, according to White House officials, hitting their original 7 million mark on March 31 was “good.” But it’s “bad” that that number didn’t have enough young healthy individual to offset the higher costs.
It’s a glass half full/half empty problem. Except the glass is the size of the United States, and it’s being filled with your tax dollars.
And then you get a story coming out of California of people crossing the border to get quality health care. Sadly, the people it’s people leaving the U.S. to get care in Mexico.
You see, health care reform in California is working SO well, no one can get a doctor’s appointment. Instead of waiting for who knows how long to see a medical professional, Americans are finding it easier to take a day trip south of the border to see someone there.
And it’s not as crazy as you might think. Medical tourism is one of the few industries that indirectly benefit from the government’s health care exchanges. Laissez Faire’s health care professional Jud Anglin has been writing about this for months now. You’ll read more about it in today’s issue.
But getting back to the situation in California, it makes you wonder how they’re measuring the success of the program. If you go by the number of people who now have coverage, then this is a “win.” Millions of people remained on their parents’ plans, and millions more were covered when they expanded Medicaid.
If you measure by how much you pay for your plan, it’s not as clear. Those who qualified for subsidies are happy. Those who saw their deductibles and premiums skyrocket… not so much.
But if you measure success by how many people actually get to see a doctor, then what’s happening in California might be a sign of things to come.
If there are not enough doctors in the U.S., what’s the point of having health insurance? If there’s little incentive for young people to put the time and energy into becoming a doctor, what will that mean 10 or 20 years down the line? If people have to leave the country in order to get the medical care they desperately need, what happens to the people who don’t have the time or resources to do the same?
We’re working on trying to find the answers to those questions. In the meantime, check out Jud’s article and decide for yourself if you’re prepared for the worst.
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Your 5-Step Medical Tourism Checklist
Why Is U.S. Health Care So Much More Expensive?
Jud Anglin After years of research and many conversations with health policy experts, I see three key culprits of  expensive health care in the U.S.
In no particular order, they are the third-party payer system (i.e., employer-provided health care), malpractice suits, and administra­tive support costs/paperwork.
The unintended consequence of in­stitutionalized employer-provided health care — a third-party payer for over 80% of the population — is to remove the pricing element from patients’ decision making.
“Medical tourism is not a new phe­nomenon. Canadian and British patients have been traveling for decades in order to escape their universal health care systems.”
Take Lasik eye surgery as a counter-example. Lasik is an elective proce­dure and, therefore, is NOT covered by insurance. The result is in just one decade, the average price has decreased from approximately $2,500 per eye to $400–1,500 per eye, depending on your location and the technology used.
All while the average employer-sponsored health insurance pre­mium for a family rose 29% over the last four years, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educa­tion Trust study.
But before deciding if medical tour­ism as a valid option for you or your family…
Is Medical Tourism Safe?
Medical tourism is not a new phe­nomenon. Canadian and British patients have been traveling for decades in order to escape their universal health care systems, in which extensive surgical wait times are the norm.
Important safety facts about medical tourism:

 

   • Many international hospital staff and doctors are educated and board certified in U.S.

 

   • MedRetreat uses only hospitals accredited by the Joint Commis­sion on Accreditation of Health­care Organizations (JCAHO). This is the same organization that accredits top U.S. hospitals.

 

 

So a JCAHO hospital is required to follow the same standards, procedures, and protocols as U.S. hospitals
   • Hospitals employ the same ad­vanced prosthetics, equipment, and medical devices as U.S. hospitals

 

   • Hospitals cross-train with John Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical, and others.

 

So if your insurance deductible is too high or you are denied access to the surgical procedure that you need, it may be time to consider packing your bags and heading off to a foreign hospital.
But before you do so, I suggest you follow this five-step checklist. It will save you time, money, and hassle.
The 5-Step Medical Tourism Checklist
Step 1: The $6K rule. Determine the approximate cost of your procedure to ensure that it will cost more than $6,000. If your procedure will cost you $6,000 or less out of pocket, you will not financially benefit once you factor in travel-related expenses.
Step 2: Obtain a com­plete diagnosis, along with your doctor’s report and images. Include any X-ray, MRI, CAT, and/or PET work. You will use these to obtain a detailed price quote and treatment plan from your selected foreign hospital.
Step 3: Determine if you want to go directly to the hospital or work with a medical tourism fa­cilitation agency. Directly means you will research, plan, and make all arrangements on your own. A medical tourism facilitator will guide you through all the planning and arrangements.
Step 4: Inform your doctor of your decision to travel abroad for your procedure. Verify if he or she would be willing to see you for follow-up care upon your return. Who knows, they may even try to compete with the foreign hospital on price.
Step 5: Obtain a firm quote and treatment plan from the foreign hospital before booking your travel arrangements.
If medical tourism sounds like a good option for you, send me an email at janglin@medretreat. com and I will send you a copy of MedRetreat’s comprehensive facilitation process to best guaran­tee a safe and pleasurable medical retreat.
Sincerely,
Jud Anglin
Jud Anglin is founder of MedRetreat.comand a board member of the Laissez Faire Club.
Ed. note: If you’re a subscriber to the Laissez Faire Letter, then you’re probably already familiar with this article. It was one of the first one published by Jud almost a year ago. In the months since then, he’s come up with even more ways to get the quality health care you deserve at a fraction of the cost.
Click here to check out all the solutions he’s discoveredfor our readers, and start securing your health care future today.]
The Wildest Healthcare Story of 2014

 

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