The tragedy involving four Americans who were recently kidnapped — and two of them murdered — while seeking cosmetic surgery in Mexico has renewed the discussion of “medical tourism,” a term that, in my mind, implies that their travel was recreational and fun. I prefer the term “outward medical travel” and would argue that these Americans’ trip abroad should remind us of how inaccessible health care is here and the lengths to which people will go to get the care they want or need.
I prefer the term “outward medical travel” and argue that their trip abroad should remind us of how inaccessible health care is here.
It’s not just about plastic surgery: Americans go looking for a wide range of treatments abroad, from dental care and hip replacements to fertility treatments, organ transplants and cardiovascular care. For the 30 million Americans without health insurance, such procedures may be out of their price range here in the States.
And even those who have insurance may find that they can get the care they seek cheaper or more quickly in another country.
A root canal in Hungary or Vietnam, for example, may be a quarter of the cost of the procedure in the U.S. The same goes for an angioplasty in Malaysia.
My cousin, Jessica Koller Gorham, a bariatric surgeon at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told me Louisiana’s state plan only covers bariatric surgery for 300 state plan-insured employees per year for the entire state. The waiting list for weight-loss surgery, already three years long, is growing. “It’s insanity,” she said. “And so what do some of these folks do? Mexico isn’t far away.” Traveling for medical care is often a desperate measure for those who have tried the regular route and found only barriers.
However, outward medical travel can carry numerous risks. Quality and safety standards, licensure, credentialing and clinical criteria for receiving procedures are not consistent across countries and hospitals. If surgeries are…
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