Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveZ
...I can't imagine a government program (or government influenced one) which demanded a person from Kansas City, Denver, Charlotte or The Villages to go to Facility #358 in Durango or Facility #223 in Hermosillo (or even know in where in Mexico these places are) for treatment of anything....Medical tourism has been around for quite a while...The biggest customers are folk from countries with national care programs who seek options...
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I don't believe our government would ever mandate such a thing. But I think there's a reasonably good chance that if no reforms are put in place that truly "bend the cost curve" for American healthcare, that the simple law of supply and demand--the free market--will drive Americans to this solution. It would only be for major procedures, but if people get to the point where they can no longer afford health insurance, and the "private pay" option is totally unaffordable, I can certainly see people with needs to treat life-threatening or quality-of-life maladies heading to foreign countries for cheaper treatment.
The key words above are "...if no reforms are put in place that truly bend the cost curve..." As has been said so many times before, if our elected representatives leave the public interest wanting once again, and if we keep sending the same people back to Washington again and again...we'll deserve what we get.