Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is a new trend helping those who usually could not afford medical treatment to get the procedures they want or need at a more affordable price. Medicine in the U.S. is extremely expensive so people have taken to getting treated in other countries because of how much less expensive it is. A cardiac surgery that costs 30,000 dollars in America is 87 percent cheaper in India. The procedures performed in these hospitals are done by qualified medical staff and there is actually a higher doctor to patient ratio in many of these hospitals than in the U.S. The procedures performed are not limited to heart surgery either. You can get a nose job and a triple bi-pass at the same hospital and for much cheaper.
I think this is a step in the right direction because everyone should have access to medical treatment. However, I know that the general population of India and other countries where medical tourism is becoming popular cannot afford these procedures. Unfortunately there is a large gap between the income of rich countries and poor countries and medicine has a  long way to go if we want to make accessible health care a reality.

-Alex Wallace

Herrick, Devon. "Medical Tourism: Global Competition in Health Care" NCPA, www.ncpa.org/pub/st304?pg=5, 30 oct. 2016