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01/08/2008: "Outsourcing Healthcare"
I have mentioned before that our family has an excellent healthcare plan – thanks to Jeanette and her employer. We are insured by CIGNA and we opted for the more comprehensive plan. When I switched my care over to Alta Bates the plan checked over by their resident insurance reviewer. She said it is the best coverage she has seen. So I am very thankful for this gift.
Healthcare is a hot topic these days as the presidential candidates talk on issues that are affecting our general public. Americans spent $2 trillion on healthcare in 2006, which is about the same as what the world spent on petroleum. This is about twice as much as was spent per person by other wealthy countries. And we still have 50 million Americans uninsured! Even with this great expense, we are still not a top-ranking nation in longevity statistics. Twenty years ago, we were 11th in the world for life expectancy. Now we rank 42nd in the world behind Bosnia and Jordan. We are 28th in infant mortality statistics ranking behind countries such as Cuba and the Czech Republic.
As we know, healthcare costs continue to spiral upward. Businesses are spending large percentages of their employee costs on care plans. We are now seeing a trend where companies are offering employees cash to have their medical operations performed overseas. Kevin Miller of Louisiana was in a car accident and ended up with whiplash - a herniated disc. The quote to have his neck repaired was $90,000 out of his own uninsured pocket. Instead, he made his first ever trip overseas and went to Bangkok where he checked into the Bumrungrad Hospital with its marble-floors, liveried bellhops, fountains and restaurants and had the operation performed by US trained doctors for $10,000. This one clinic treated 55,000 Americans last year, a 30% increase over the year before. When I was getting treated in Mexico, there were loads of Americans from all over the country coming across the border each day to have dental work done and even plastic surgery. Countries such as India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia top the list of medical tourism destinations. We are even seeing companies like IndUShealth that are offering companies and individuals researched access to healthcare procedures in India.
American healthcare is huge business with huge profits and wealthy lobbyists. So many of our politicians are funded by the healthcare and drug industry that changing our broken system will be difficult. As costs rise and more employers can’t fund healthcare, we will see more medical tourism and access to prescription drugs overseas. Maybe if we took away healthcare benefits from congress? We are paying for them, aren’t we?