Research by Professor Steven P. Wallace of UCLA, and colleagues, concludes that almost a million Californian residents crossed the border into Mexico for treatment in 2004, of which half were Mexican immigrants – both legal and illegal.
The rest were Americans shopping for cheap prescription drugs or who needed treatment when they were in Mexico for business or vacation. Many Mexicans go home for treatment because of cost or cultural and linguistic issues. However, the striking trend is the growth in “binational plans”, which cover U.S. businesses near the Mexican border. These plans started in 2000, and now cover 150,000 workers. Certainly, most of these are Mexican immigrants, but I anticipate that more employers will seek such benefits for their American employees in California, and investors will capitalize Mexican clinics and hospitals to serve their needs.
The primary reason will be to escape California’s expensive regulatory burden on health facilities. California hospitals shift the costs of treating Medicare and Medicaid patients (for whom government reimbursement does not cover costs) to private insurers. Professor Daniel Kessler of Stanford University figures that premiums for private health insurance would be about 11 percent lower without this cost shift – a “hidden tax: that private insurers can avoid by leaving the state. California hospitals also suffer under laws that drive up their costs: for example, seismic retrofitting and nurse-patient ratios, which Mexican ones do not.
Plus they have to deal with a militant union, the California Nurses Association, whose members are free to parade in front of the Capitol by the hundreds in support of more government interference in health care. The political momentum in California, and the nation, will make our hospitals more accountable to government and less accountable to patients.
Read more in my latest Capital Ideas.
2 comments:
Canadians routinely go to the U.S. for treatment they can't get, or can't get quickly enough, in Canada. If Obama succeeds in his wholescale takeover of U.S. health care, we can expect these Canadians to do a fly-over right into Mexico --- where they'll meet their American cousins.
Its a reality for Americans that they do not have any other option but to look for some venting valve to cross borders to gain health and wellness. 60 Million under insured and uninsured is a tragic story for American, and a stark reality that they are facing is 17% of GDP spent on healthcare. I think Medical Tourism is a great mechanism to solve some of the issues of health provision in fastest and affordable way.
Medical Tourism in Malaysia is a great place for Americans to come over and enjoy. www.wellnessvisit.com is a medical facilitator from Malaysia, making it possible for Americans to reap the benefits.
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