Going Abroad for Medical Treatment

In my Risk Benefits class we have been learning a lot about the current health care system in the United States and the process of choosing work place benefits that may best suite the needs of a companies employees. Some of the interesting topics we discuss include Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Recently we began to discuss the benefits and flaws of having a national health care system, including some topics such as the failure of the Massachusetts' plan for nationalized health care. As i began to search for more information on this topic I found an interesting article about American citizens who have traveled abroad to receive medical treatment. This is becoming more prevalent as healthcare costs steadily increase. I have previously heard of Americans who have traveled to places like Canada, who have a health care plan, but never heard of Americans traveling as far as New Dehli. According to the article I found by Danielle Dellorto , patients from all over the world have been traveling to the operating rooms in places like New Dehli to receive state of the art care at a reduced cost.

What implications may this have on American doctors and patients? Well currently healthcare costs are astronomical in my opinion. It seems that only the rich are capable of receiving adequate care these days. Even the middle class are having to choose between leaving their families bankrupt or paying to receive care that could potentially save their lives here in the states. However their are currently services that excel in providing a service to patients who are looking to receive care out of the United States. The service provides patients with doctors and tour guides who will aid a patient in receiving the care they need. What are the risks involved for the patient? According to the article there may be issues with proper documentation of the surgery or procedures taking place., but if the surgery could save my life I think I would be willing to travel to places like New Dehli to have these procedures preformed. These services make living a much smaller financial burden for those who must choose between life and death. Hopefully these services will make an impact on the current high costs of our healthcare services.