Medical Tourism is a fun alternative to rational, reliable health care
Single Payer. Single Payer. Single Payer healthcare (of one flavor or another) is the only rational, equitable, sensible way to manage health care in the US. We’ve been loud and proud in that position, and we’ll go even further by saying there are NO advantages to our current system at all. But maybe… just maybe… we’re wrong. The US pays about $10K per capita for healthcare; $2K more than the nearest competitor (Switzerland) and $4-$8K more than the rest of the pack. That $2-$8K extra you pay every year 
COULD be considered wasted, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re considering a life-saving or life-altering medical procedure that’s likely to bankrupt you, smile! Your health and life don’t have to be your only concerns; you can also worry about which country you want to visit when you consider MEDICAL TOURISM!
Clever entrepreneurs can spot opportunity, and seeing US citizens spending tens of thousands of dollars more for the same care as citizens of other countries is an opportunity. If a country can offer medical care, hotel, air fare, etc. for less than this generous cap, they have a brand-new market for their tourism industry! And countries around the world have responded to the challenge. According to Medical Tourism Magazine (another new business starting up from the waste of our healthcare system) the top ten countries for Medical Tourism are India, Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Costa Rica, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, but other countries are in the mix. Most countries ‘specialize’ to some extent; Thailand is known for gender reassignment surgery while Taiwan treats cardiac and orthopedic conditions and Costa Rica handles dentistry and cosmetic surgery. In all of these countries you can book tour packages that put you in beautiful settings for the medical care you can’t afford at home, and send you back with some change in your pocket.
This month we give you a taste of the Medical Tourism industry, an industry that’s taking the scraps from the American public that the Insurance industry missed. But maybe, just maybe, it can be fun!
People are ditching US healthcare and flying to other countries for medical procedures they can actually afford, Nian Hu in Insider, Jul 2018
Medical Tourism Association website
Receiving medical care abroad can be risky. Learn about the risks and how to minimize them., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), webpage, updated Dec 2016
Top 10 Medical Tourism Destinations in the World, Renee-Marie Stephano in Medical Tourism Magazine,
How does health spending in the U.S. compare to other countries? Bradley Sawyer and Cynthia Cox on Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, Dec 2018
