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Several employee health plans for various companies are already offering incentives if employees have certain expensive procedures (hip replacements, heart operations, etc.) performed in India or Thailand rather than the US. The price difference can be enormous - a $150,000 complex heart procedure might only cost $10-15,000 at a hospital catering to foreigners in India.
Plus, while there, patients can load up on cheap prescription drugs that would bankrupt them in the US - this brings up the second issue of drug re-importation. Not just from Canada and Mexico, but from around the world, from India to Spain.
In my limited experience, anyhow, it seems like people in the US are becoming far more willing to travel overseas for medical treatment. This used to be a very fringe activity, and it often involved very dubious 'health clinics' that offered unproven 'therapies' to people with terminal illnesses. No longer. The industry has professionalized, and now offers even the most complex procedures, like organ transplants.
The 60 Minutes story on the subject that has been cited here before is only part of the emerging trend. Health insurers would like to expand incentives for this sort of treatment, but it faces opposition from both American hospitals (which lose a very lucrative revenue stream) and some insurance clients who are resistant to the idea of being outsourced to a foreign country for their treatment.
But given the economic realities, that opposition may be crumbling.
So, how do you feel about these cost-cutting health care measures? Are they symptoms of a broken system, or are they sensible and beneficial market outcomes that will increase efficiency?
As a side note, no matter how you feel about the drug reimportation thing, the world attitude toward US prescription costs is summed up in the marketing pitch for a drug reimportation business I recently saw - 'Hey Americans - stop being chumps!'
I work in the medical industry and I am ALL FOR IT... Its about CHOICE... you can choose to do it here OR you can choose to do it elsewhere. I am not forcing you to do it anywhere. I am happy that someone is taking the initiative to do something like this because it opens COMPETITION. That's perfectly fine with me... just don't try to bring in socialized health care in here.. then CHOICE gets thrown out the window... if you didn't know, I like to have a choice, after all, its MY health care... There is NOTHING broken about a system that gives YOU choices... as for prescription drugs, rarely is there ever a drug that there isn't a $4 generic version that is also used in other countries (which by the way mostly use generic drugs in the first place)... If you want brand-name drugs... well you have to pay the price.. You want to wear a brand-name Tiffany diamond ring? Well, it ain't going to be cheap but there are plenty of non-brand-name products elsewhere. I would LOVE for people to start going overseas for surgical procedures... it be like a semi-vacation as well... please DO it... but don't make me pay one dime of your medical care expenses. I am not here to take care of your financial responsibility, that's your job...
About drug re-importation. I understand drugs are often priced higher here than in most countries but there are generics which for the most part, work equally well. To me it doesn't really matter as long as the right drugs gets to the right hands. Often times I see Mexico offering all these drugs for $1 dollar... only suckers fall for that... trust me, you are not getting the drug and that's where the problems comes in. How do you know that the drugs you are re-importing are real drugs and not some fake drug being sold to the broker? This is a big problem even in the U.S., when someone makes counterfeit drugs (i.e. worthless pills) and sells them to pharmacies pretending to represent some drug manufacturer. There would have to stringent policies and oversight in place to prevent counterfeit drugs from being imported or made in the U.S.
Last edited by evilnewbie; 12-05-2007 at 01:38 PM..
Honestly I think this is going to grow huge. It may be the only available option for increasing millions of Americans. It is called medical tourism.
Estimated 750,000 Americans will do it this year, per medscape magazine. Blue Cross has already changed their coverage in a couple states to start accomodating this trend, and some hospitals are opening or partnering in foreign countries to take advantage of this.
Some small business owners are flying their employees to other countries for operations because it is the only way they can cap health care costs.
Health insurance premiums for Integrated (icsicontrols.com) jumped 32 percent last year, bloating its overhead by 12 percent. That's why, starting this spring, Chavez is taking drastic measures, encouraging workers in need of major medical procedures to seek care in such far-flung locales as Costa Rica, India and Singapore - a growing practice known as medical tourism. Chavez estimates that overseas treatment will cut his medical costs by more than 10 percent year over year and help him avoid "another 20 to 30 percent rise in premiums."
It's easy to see the appeal for a cash-strapped employer. Surgery overseas costs 30 to 80 percent less than it does in the U.S., thanks to lower fees for even top-quality doctors and hospitals. The average charge for a coronary artery bypass is about $75,500 in the U.S., vs. $11,400 (including roundtrip airfare) at the Fortis Mohali hospital in India. A knee replacement in Singapore runs about $17,800 - roughly half the typical U.S. price.
Experts predict that the medical tourism industry will grow to $40 billion by 2010.
That's fine.... its all about competition... as long as my tax dollars isn't used to subsidized someone's poor financial responsibility.. I am open to it.. if you feel that Lipitor is your drug and no other drug can take its place well then get the re-imports... its about choice... choice = freedom ... and that's what I love about this country because we have choices... the government however I feel is trying to subvert our choices... I also want less government but that is off topic :P
It's an example of our healthcare system being broke. To begin with, we need to take the insurance companies out of the health care system. But what we really need is a publicly funded healthcare system that's financed by tax revenue that covers all US citizens (no illegals). Our system is the best in the world if you have money, if you don't it's one of the worse.
But people shouldn't have to go overseas to have an operation. No medical procedure should put someone in the position where they have to face financial ruin or bankruptcy simply to just stay alive. The fact people even have to do this is an example of just how broke the medical system is in America.
But people shouldn't have to go overseas to have an operation.
I guess the free marketers would ask, why not? If medicine can be provided at a lower price point overseas, why should Americans expect to get their care in the US, where the price points are much higher? In a global economy, people can't be reluctant to cross borders to chase the best financial opportunities.
Of course, I guess it would create problems for felons or others who can't obtain visas to India, but, tough luck.
I guess the free marketers would ask, why not? If medicine can be provided at a lower price point overseas, why should Americans expect to get their care in the US, where the price points are much higher? In a global economy, people can't be reluctant to cross borders to chase the best financial opportunities.
Because it's wrong. It's not something people should have to tolerate or put up with. Our healthcare system is broke and Washington is refusing to show leadership on this issue. They aren't even trying or attempting to do something about it.
You can purchase a car made in Germany. You can purchase shoes made in Czechoslovakia. You can buy coffee from Kenya. Oddly enough, you are not supposed to purchase pharmaceuticals from Canada that were made in America sold to them for half the cost than they are sold in here. Now THAT is a heck of a lobby.
You can purchase a car made in Germany. You can purchase shoes made in Czechoslovakia. You can buy coffee from Kenya. Oddly enough, you are not supposed to purchase pharmaceuticals from Canada that were made in America sold to them for half the cost than they are sold in here. Now THAT is a heck of a lobby.
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