Crossing the borders for health care

Why would 8 million people cross borders for healthcare?
Including 1/300 in the U.S.?

According to an infographic sent by Deyanara Riddix (Nursing School Hub) to Healthcare Asia (HCA), 20% of Americans struggle to pay medical bills, while 3 out of 5 bankruptcies are due to medical bills. That’s 1.7 million Americans, or 248,002 in California; 113,524 in Illinois; and 99,780 in Florida alone.

These number of Americans could have saved more if they had travelled to other countries, such as in Asia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Brazil to obtain their medical needs (comparatively with the US prices over the same medical procedures)

The infographic indicates that there are things to balance such as : high wait times, high costs, high quality care in many nations, and low cost of international travel. There are several country options to obtain medical care, where specialised services such as cosmetic surgery ( most cosmetic surgery is not covered by insurance ) , Dentistry (nearly half of Americans have no dental coverage), Cardiovascular, Orthopedics (more than 20% of Americans have arthritis, with 2/3 under 65. With better prostheses, and prices up to 80% lower than in the states, orthopedic surgery is a good reason to be a medical tourist), Cancer, Reproductive, Weight Loss (Bariatric surgeries cost US$20-US$25,000 in the US).

The Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation for hospitals and individual doctors is a good indicator of developed world quality healthcare, wherever it is, according to the inforgraphic’s final note.

Source: Nursing School Hub

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