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Author Topic: India Accepts American Medical "Refugees"
-=+=-
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7072

posted 21 October 2006 01:07 PM      Profile for -=+=-   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
U.S. healthcare is so expensive that middle class Americans are actually flying to foreign countries for affordable healthcare.

The story is originally in the New England Journal of Medecine (behind subscriber wall), but Wired Magazine summarizes it:

quote:
The New England Journal of Medicine ran a story this month distinguishing a new trend in medial travel that distinguishes medical tourists--people who go abroad for low-cost aesthetic procedures--and people forced out of the country because their lives depend on it.

One such refugee, Howard Saab, was facing a $200,000 bill for heart surgery at a hospital in North Carolina where he would have had to sell his house for the treatment. He searched in earnest for cheaper alternatives and ended up in New Delhi and paid $6,700 instead.

[...]

According to a recent report, the Indian government is now considering issuing a new type of visa specifically for medical refugees.



From: Turtle Island | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
marzo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12096

posted 21 October 2006 04:40 PM      Profile for marzo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
North Korea should start selling cut-rate psychoanalysis to Americans to bring in more hard currency US dollars. It's the perfect arrangement. The North Koreans could afford to really go for the gusto with all those parades, fireworks, and military formations they love so much, and the Americans can spend all the money they save on NASCAR rallies, moonshine whiskey, and beauty contests. They could even put a new coat of paint on their trailers.
It's a good, solid, business solution.

From: toronto | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged
B.L. Zeebub LLD
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6914

posted 21 October 2006 07:38 PM      Profile for B.L. Zeebub LLD     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think the term "tourist" is far more apt than "refugee". From the perspective of an encompassing global capitalist system, these tourists are privileged elites able to use disparities between local economies to thier advantage. Some people can afford to shop at Holt Renfrew, but some still need to go to Winners. I take advantage of - for instance - Mexican pharmaceutical prices and distribution laws as you can get just about anything over the counter for less than you would pay in the U.S. or Canada.

Now, if we assume there is a drop-off in care standards, and that these people are getting inferior service because they can't afford the "real" thing, that might be different. But it looks like it's not rare "high-end" stuff they're going there for, but tried-and-trued methods and practices (dare I say products?).


From: A Devil of an Advocate | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
-=+=-
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7072

posted 21 October 2006 08:34 PM      Profile for -=+=-   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by B.L. Zeebub LLD:
I think the term "tourist" is far more apt than "refugee". From the perspective of an encompassing global capitalist system, these tourists are privileged elites able to use disparities between local economies to thier advantage.

The article is about the middle class, not "priveleged elites."

The man used as an example in the article has a $200,000 dollar house, and would have had to sell it to pay for his operation. His medical care in India cost $7,000.

To many people, having these assets might seem like privelege, but those are definately middle class figures.

This guy is the type of middle class person who supports medicare in Canada. If Canadian, he could have his operation and still preserve his economic situation. But in the US, people like this go bankrupt.

[ 21 October 2006: Message edited by: -=+=- ]


From: Turtle Island | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
B.L. Zeebub LLD
rabble-rouser
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posted 21 October 2006 08:58 PM      Profile for B.L. Zeebub LLD     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by -=+=-:

The article is about the middle class, not "priveleged elites."


Depends how you slice it. If we think globally (as I suggested as my pretext) he's hardly "middle class" - he's near the top of the food chain. The jet airplane (you may have heard of it) essentially makes India "local" for those who can afford the ticket. He's a privileged elite compared to 90% of people living in India. How many people there do you suppose could afford a $6,700 USD surgery, let alone a $200,000 USD home?

quote:
If Canadian, he could have his operation and still preserve his economic situation. But in the US, people like this go bankrupt.


Apparently not. Apparently he's sought out and received care for less money.

My point is not that the healthcare system in the United States could not be more just, or that goods couldn't be more fairly distributed. However, in this case the man was able to find a viable alternative. He's not an asylum seeker with no recourse, or arriving from a position of destitution or overwhelming suffering, he's simply making an informed, rational economic choice - a choice he can make because he's far better off economically than 80-90% of the world. Labelling him a "refugee" is inappropriate. Perhaps "tourist" is too derisive. "Informed consumer" is close. He's a buyer, not a desperate figure with an outstretched hand.

This is the politics of speed at work. The speed of the airplane (and his ability to access that speed) makes this man's sphere of action a little bigger than many others. Delocalisation is an economic/political/healthcare fact. This guy has used it to his advantage. Perhaps more Americans should do the same and put pressure on their healthcare providers to change their firm behaviour? That could happen without abandoning the fight for a comprehensive healthcare system in the U.S. - in fact, it might speed the process if U.S.-based providers saw an advantage to signing on to stop "medical migrants" from travelling abroad for their care.

[ 21 October 2006: Message edited by: B.L. Zeebub LLD ]


From: A Devil of an Advocate | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
-=+=-
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7072

posted 21 October 2006 09:08 PM      Profile for -=+=-   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I take your point: conditions are so skewed towards the West, that even the Western middle class can take resources directly away from the Third World (as opposed to extractive industries, global financial institutions etc.).

On the flip side, it is interesting that universal medicare provides justice not only for those Western countries who have it, but also for those Third World nations whose resources we might otherwise plunder.

(Though Canada appears to be doing this in regards to cherry-picking nurses and doctors i.e. trying to do medicare on the cheap, and not paying to train our own doctors, or pay our own nurses).


From: Turtle Island | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
B.L. Zeebub LLD
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6914

posted 21 October 2006 09:17 PM      Profile for B.L. Zeebub LLD     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by -=+=-:
On the flip side, it is interesting that universal medicare provides justice not only for those Western countries who have it, but also for those Third World nations whose resources we might otherwise plunder.

An interesting point. I hadn't thought about it this way. Perhaps the concern should be that "medical migrants" could drive up the cost of healthcare in India by creating a competitive environment gearer toward satisfying rich foreign clients and thus putting healthcare even further out of reach of average Indians.

That said, if there is any "trickle down" effect from medical migrants, it could be increased employment in the medical service sector, money for research and development, etc. With such a huge disparity in the cost of procedures, perhaps India could remain competitive even while adding on some kind of tax or levy for foreigners coming to use their medicine and put the money directly into their own public healthcare system...

What kind of healthcare does India have anyway? I'll have to look that up...

Hmmm....

[ 21 October 2006: Message edited by: B.L. Zeebub LLD ]


From: A Devil of an Advocate | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged

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