Medical Tourism: Passport to Cheaper Health Care?

When Things Go Wrong continued...

Medical tourism is such a new industry that there will likely be dramatic changes in the upcoming years. But for now, says Dr. Milstein, "people who travel outside the U.S. for medical care are like pioneers in the wild, wild West."

Good data may not exist. Quality of care may be inconsistent. Patients may face language barriers, flight difficulties, or trouble getting post-op treatment. But these are the risks some people are willing to take - and some feel they must take - to get the health care they can no longer afford at home. For patients like Schilling, who was treated in Malaysia, the bottom line is clear: "I'm an American, yet I could never get this kind of care here. I'd go back in a heartbeat."

Originally published on October 9, 2007

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