America is viewed as the land of the great and the land of opportunity. Unfortunately, that is painting a pretty rosy picture that isn’t exactly true. At the end of the day our health care system is broken. It really upsets me that Americans are so disenchanted with our U.S. health care system that some have to travel overseas. The fact that hard working taxpaying Americans, whether white, black, Hispanic, Indian, or Asian or any race have no access to affordable healthcare in the U.S., while in some cases illegal immigrants get free and better care than Americans is very frustrating.
The reality is, at the end of the day, almost 50 million Americans have no access to healthcare, 120 million do not have dental insurance, and the number is growing each day. Working in the healthcare industry the trend is simple, more and more employers are canceling their group health insurance because the cost is too high, and more and more individuals can no longer afford medical insurance.
It gets really bothersome to see the politicians constantly talking about Health Care being broken in the U.S. Some offer no solutions. The rest offer unrealistic solutions – Nationalized healthcare, mandatory health care, etc. The politicians talk, but don’t do anything. Massachusetts passed a law, which soon will go into effect and requires people to have mandatory health coverage or pay penalties. Hillary Clinton has proposed mandatory health care also with the possibility of Tax credits.
If our health care system is broken and costs are too high, then why do politicians believe forcing people to buy health care will solve our problem. It will only continue us down a negative path, as each year goes by Americans are forced to pay higher prices for ever increasing cost of health care. Eventually everyone will have mandatory health insurance they can’t afford.
Why isn’t anyone attacking the actual problem? Why has not one politician actually stood up and acknowledged the problem. Some of the major costs of our U.S. health care system today are medical malpractice, high costs of labor, and inflated costs of medical supplies and prescription drugs. Why do parts for a surgical procedure in the U.S. cost almost $9,000, while the same parts by the same U.S. manufacturer for a procedure in India cost only about $2,000?
Why does a prescription drug that costs $1,600 in the U.S. cost $800 in Costa Rica? How is it that a U.S. trained and board certified doctor in the U.S. can perform a procedure in India and Thailand for almost up to 80% less than the United States? Why is it that for certain heart procedures in Asia, American patients spend almost 5 times longer in the hospital to recover than American patients in American hospitals? Have we given up on providing quality care in America, and instead race to send the patient home?
When will Politicians stop putting band aids on our health care problem and really try to fix it? When will everyone in America stand up and say enough is enough and band together? Obviously not yet! Because on October 2nd a U.S. farmer traveled to India for surgery he couldn’t afford in the United States. In October a single mother of two, who hasn’t been able to hold down a job for two years because of a broken back and tremendous pain, is going to India for surgery she can’t afford in the U.S.
Apparently, no one cares that we are sending Americans overseas for surgery. Since no one cares, then that leaves us one option. We are in a Global Health Care world, and we all need to come together to focus on the best quality of care and best outcomes for Americans going overseas. We need to pull together, because Medical Tourism is the only real viable solution to America’s health care crisis.
Am I ashamed that we are sending hard working Americans overseas and in some cases around the world, because that is the only place they can receive affordable, quality care? Yes, I am. Do I believe that Americans can get care equal to or in some cases better care than here in America? I absolutely do. I hope everyone can come together within this industry and show everyone how amazing Medical Tourism is, and the cutting edge medicine and care available globally.
