"Medical Tourism" a big industry and growing.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
If I had to travel out of country, I'd rather avoid a country actively engaged in a civil war or one in which I didn't have full confidence in the medical system they had.

I don't think you'll be harmed if you go to India


Belgian system rockx: more taxes, but ubercheap medical treatment. Anyone can get the most expensive treatments (except for a few that are not covered like resizing breasts and things like that ). And we still spend less money on healthcare than the US!

[Lancer]

"The Labor Party USA has a plan to creative a universal payer system that will not only save America money, but put everyone on universal healthcare and provide job training for those in the insurance industry who lose their jobs for up to four years."

Che, I worry that the left will screw it up majesticly. Remember Hillary Clinton and the mess she and her blonde cronies came up with. The problem becomes that they don't want to piss anyone off or cost anyone their jobs so they just make it worse, and more expensive. Politicos on the right will never do anything about it or have a clue what it is to be without coverage. When the problem gets bad enough, and maybe it is already, a third party might be able to gain acceptance by running on this issue.

If a person has to fly thousands of miles to be able to afford to get their teeth done, there's an opening for a political platform.

Not only that, but if the medical community sees their customers flying off to sunnier spots, they might just get behind massive reform, if they aren't already.

"I don't think you'll be harmed if you go to India"

Trajanus, people in the US see alot of bad press about the rest of the world, the third world particularly. So many people are just afraid to venture out into the real world because of this. What they don't know is that in places like the Philippines, it's actually safer to walk the streets and wander around than in the US. The exception being that Manila is likely just as bad as New York and LA.

Always wanted to see India...

Belgian system sounds great.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Lancer

if the medical community sees their customers flying off to sunnier spots, they might just get behind massive reform, if they aren't already.

The nurses are behind the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA). Kaiser Permanente is grudgingly for it. Reduction of adminstration costs means the loss of a profit center for them...but then they see 7 million Californians who now have no medical insurace but who will be covered under CHIRA. That many potential new customers is soooo tempting.

[Lancer]

Huh. So how will an insurance company make $ if the whole thing is government :gulp: run?

[Starchild]

They manage to make enough money in the UK where if I had to have your surgery, it wouldn't have cost me a penny.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lancer
Remember Hillary Clinton and the mess she and her blonde cronies came up with.

That's because, rather than come up with a truely progressive policy on universal, single-payer health care, they came up with a chimera of greatly expanded health care run through the insurance companies. Instead of giving people what they wanted, they tried to compromise with everyone and keep it in the private sector. The Clintons were either too timid to push for real health care or they were in the back pocket of the insurance companies or, more likely, both. On top of this, it was insanely complicated.

The LPUSA program is vastly simpler. Health-insurance for all, run by the Feds, paid for by a 5% tax on businesses (for those businesses already paying for insurance, this will be a significant drop in costs), with a program to retrain insurance workers who lose their jobs, and which also allows people to pick their doctors.

With a 50% cut in costs due to the massive diminution of overhead, the whole country will save money. Businesses, for the most part, should love this, as it will mean a rather substantial increase in the amount of capital they have available for investment.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lancer
Huh. So how will an insurance company make $ if the whole thing is government :gulp: run?

There's still auto, home, renter, flood, hurricane, malpractice, etc.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Lancer
Huh. So how will an insurance company make $ if the whole thing is government :gulp: run?

I don't care. I'd rather have my money in my pocket than in theirs.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Starchild
They manage to make enough money in the UK where if I had to have your surgery, it wouldn't have cost me a penny.

The same goes for the scandinavian countries - even evil foreigners on visit get free emergency treatment.

[VetLegion]

Emergency treatment being driving you to hospital. You pay for everything else.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Emergency treatment being driving you to hospital. You pay for everything else.

Nope, not here - well you may have to pay for the magzines making your stay at the hospital tolerable, but not the surgical/medical treatment.

[VetLegion]

Well then, Denmark

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Well then, Denmark

Just be sure it's an emergency

http://www.travelwizard.com/europe/Denmark_Practical_Info.html

Emergency medical care us supplied by municipal authorities, and hotel staff members can direct guests to local emergency centers, hospitals, or dental clinics (or dial 112). Emergency treatment in Danish public hospitals is free. Fees for
non-emergency medical services are usually payable in cash, and are reasonable by international standards. Travelers taking prescribed medications should bring a supply large enough to last throughout the trip since some medicines available in North America are not on the market in Denmark.

[Dinner]

You hear about people going to Brazil or Thailand to get cheap plastic surgury and having their face totally screwed up.

[Zkribbler]

The same thing happens here. Just look at Michael and Latoya Jackson.