Medical tourism considered by nearly 30% of Americans
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At the time, we also followed the case of Paul Hambleton, a Texan, who went to Monterrey, Mexico, for mild knee surgery. He said that the same operation in the United States would have cost him twice as much.
A survey from Gallup this week found that the availability of medical services in foreign countries isn’t something that American consumers have failed to notice.
Up to 29% of Americans would consider traveling abroad to countries as close as Mexico and as far away as India for procedures such as heart bypass surgery, hip or knee replacements, plastic surgery, and cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as for alternative medial care, according to the poll. Gallup conducted the study in April through telephone interviews with 5,050 participants.
‘The increasing cost of medical care in the United States and large numbers of uninsured (at least 48 million people, according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured) may be making outbound travel an option worth considering,’ says the survey.
Also:
‘Those who report that they don’t have health insurance are more likely to consider going abroad for medical treatment. For example, 37% of respondents without health insurance would seek cancer care abroad as compared to 22% with health insurance.’
Read the full survey on the Gallup link above.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City