subject: Should You Go To Mexico for Affordable Health Insurance? [print this page] Medical care can be very expensive, especially for the uninsured. Hospitalization and surgery in an American hospital can cost tens of thousands of dollars. An increasing number of people are looking to reduce that expense, especially in a recession.
Buying health coverage could help, but some people either cannot afford or do not want to spend their money on the monthly premium. One of their solutions is medical tourism: traveling to other countries for cheaper procedures. It is a growing trend among Americans today.
One of the new hubs for medical tourism is Mexico. The typical stereotype is of undocumented Mexican immigrants crossing the border to visit hospitals in the United States, due to their percieved higher quality. However, several businesses are turning that belief on its head.
Medical tourism facilitators, such as MedToGo International and BridgeHealth, plan entire trips that combine beach vacations with major surgery for a lower out-of-pocket cost than the latter alone would cost in the United States.
Understandably, many will worry about the risks associated with foreign medical care. Granted, an increasing number of Mexican hospitals are internationally accredited, and some are even staffed by American doctors. Reliable accreditations include those from the Joint Commissions International, which has endorsed nine hospitals in major Mexican cities. If there are complications, a patient will often be stuck in a foreign location. Moreover, if they suffer complications after returning to the United States, American hospitals may fear medical malpractice reprecussions and refuse to treat the patient. There is also the threat of drug cartel-related violence in certain areas.
A good, affordable health insurance policy should effectively cover most procedures. It is recommended that a person shops around for the lowest co-payments and co-insurance percentages for certain procedures in the United States before resorting to going out of the country.
Should You Go To Mexico for Affordable Health Insurance?
By: Yamileth Medina
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