Medical tourism is plaguing the United States
Photo by Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash
The United States is suffering from a plague; ironically enough, this plague relates to the field of medicine, or rather the cost; healthcare in this country is so expensive that leaving the country and crowdfunding to receive cheaper medical attention has been normalized. However, issues with these tactics can arise, like a recent incident in Mexico when four Americans were kidnapped and two were killed while visiting the country for a medical procedure. With treatments becoming so costly in America, citizens are willing to leave the country and take risks just to receive cheaper healthcare.
A study referenced by NPR found that of those who leave the country for medical reasons, most do so to get dental and cosmetic work done at a fraction of the cost. Josef Woodman, the CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, claims that those who visit Mexico for medical attention typically save “50-70% over what they’d pay in the United States for an elective treatment.”
How couldn’t you consider the cheaper option? If you could get anything in life for half price, you’d consider it. But why can’t the United States provide the same prices?
Even with prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs, it’s cheaper to visit other countries than to buy them in the States. Insulin has been a huge topic of discussion over this exact scenario, as prescription prices have soared for diabetics. Mexico has become a prime location for American citizens to obtain insulin for a fraction of the cost before returning to the States. NPR sat down with Michelle Fenner, an American citizen who had the idea to drive to Tijuana to stock up on insulin for her son. She reported “that a three-month supply of insulin would cost her $3,700. That same supply would cost only about $600 in Mexico.” Fenner isn’t the only one doing this; it’s estimated by NPR that she’s only one of the million people who cross the border from California to Mexico for medical discounts.
Americans are even starting programs to send those who use costly medications to Mexico via plane or bus. Utah’s Public Health Employee Plan championed this by sending users of expensive drugs to Tijuana to pick up months’ worth of prescriptions. If a state in the U.S. is outsourcing healthcare to a foreign country, that’s a huge issue. Yet the federal government does nothing to stop it or decrease costs. It has become so expensive that people are willing to reach out to people on the internet or social media in attempts to crowdfund money to pay off medical expenses.
GoFundMe has become a popular way to crowdsource funds for operations and treatments. The online platform allows people to raise money for events and services, but it’s been turned into somewhere people go to plead for donations for medical bills. It’s an even darker narrative, as studies done by the American Journal of Public Health show, that less than 12% of crowdfunding attempts hit their goals. So even if the last resort is to reach out to the masses via the internet or social media, there’s a high likelihood that your goal won’t be hit.
Reform for U.S. healthcare is needed now, not soon but right now. Medication should be affordable; it should be accessible to those who need it and when they need it, rather than gate-kept by price and availability. Citizens shouldn’t have to beg or plead for donations to assist with the costs of medical procedures or care; it should be covered by insurance. If citizens leaving the country to receive cheaper medical care isn’t a warning sign that the system in place isn’t working, I don’t know what is.
