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Open House: In November 2009 we, along with many other Expats from Ajijic, attended an open house at the new Puerta de Hierro Sur 50 bed, state of the art, Hospital on Hwy. 54, just south of the Periferico (the southern ring road of Guadalajara).
Boomers Abroad Online Community Blogs
Boomers share their experiences abroad with us!
Tags >> Medical Abroad
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Oct 18
2009
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THIS PERSON NEEDS A DENTIST !!
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Aug 03
2009
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Medical Tourism, Health tourism, Medical Abroad, search for healthcare
By Kevin Kielty
Many people in the United States are finding themselves out of a job and also without valuable health insurance. When costly medical procedures are needed, they cannot afford to have them done in the US. Therefore, many people are traveling to foreign countries to have the procedures done. This is called “health tourism”.
By Kevin Kielty
Many people in the United States are finding themselves out of a job and also without valuable health insurance. When costly medical procedures are needed, they cannot afford to have them done in the US. Therefore, many people are traveling to foreign countries to have the procedures done. This is called “health tourism”.
Medical Tourism, Health tourism, Medical Abroad, search for healthcare
In the past, people usually traveled outside the US for non life-threatening procedures such as cosmetic surgery or dental surgery. However, the growing trend is for people to seek foreign treatment for more life-threatening conditions such as heart bypass surgery, heart valve replacements and spinal surgeries. In some cases the cost can be as much as 90% less than it would be in the United States. Popular destinations are Mexico, Thailand, Costa Rica, India.
Driven by rising health care costs at home, nearly 1 million Californians cross the border each year to seek medical care in Mexico, according a new paper by UCLA researchers and colleagues published in the journal Medical Care.
An estimated 952,000 California adults sought medical, dental or prescription services in Mexico annually, and of these, 488,000 were Mexican immigrants, according to the research paper, "Heading South: Why Mexican Immigrants in California Seek Health Services in Mexico."
The paper is the first large-scale population-based research ever published on U.S. residents who travel to Mexico for health services. It is based on an analysis of 2001 data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation's largest state health survey.
"What the research shows is that many Californians, especially Mexican immigrants, go to Mexico for health services," said lead author Steven P. Wallace, associate director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, which conducts CHIS. "We already know that immigrants use less health care overall than people born in the U.S. Heading south of the border further reduces the demand on U.S. facilities."
Cost and lack of insurance were primary reasons both Mexican and non-Mexican U.S. residents sought health services across the border.
Both "long-stay" Mexican immigrants (those in the U.S. for more than 15 years) and "short-stay" immigrants (less than 15 years) have high rates of uninsurance: 51.5 percent of short-stay immigrants and 29 percent of long-stay immigrants do not have medical insurance.
"This points to the importance of expanding work-based insurance in health care reform, since virtually all Mexican immigrants are in working families," said co-author Xochitl Casteñada, director of the Health Initiative of the Americas at the University of California, Berkeley.
Both short-stay and long-stay immigrants have even higher rates of uninsurance for dental care: 77.6 percent and 51.6 percent, respectively.
Not surprisingly, dental care was the most common service obtained by immigrants.
Among non-Latino whites, prescription drugs were the most common medical service obtained in Mexico.
Long-stay immigrants used Mexican health services the most, with 15 percent reporting crossing the border during a year's time for health services. Half of these long-stay immigrants lived far — more than 120 miles — from the border.
Long-stay immigrants are more likely to be documented than short-stay immigrants, Wallace noted, which makes it easier for them to travel back and forth to Mexico.
Short-stay immigrants — those most likely to be undocumented — were also the least likely to need medical care in all areas, with one exception: mental health.
"Undocumented immigrants tend to be younger, stronger and consequently healthier," Wallace said. "But they are also the most stressed out, as many are struggling economically, culturally and linguistically."
Short-stay immigrants who sought treatment in Mexico were more often women and were more likely to tell their doctor they were feeling "sad or down."
Other findings:
Immigrants who travel to Mexico for health services are not necessarily the poorest. One explanation: The cost of travel may offset any financial savings, creating a disincentive for the very poor to travel.
Although cost was the primary factor in seeking health services, cultural and linguistic barriers and immigration factors were also important motivators.
How often immigrants cross the border to Mexico for health services is particularly relevant to efforts to create and expand binational health insurance plans, Wallace said.
Since 2000, several private insurance companies and at least one employer group have developed such plans, which cover an estimated 150,000 California workers who use Mexican medical facilities near the border.
These plans may be both more cost-effective for employers and more culturally relevant for participants, Wallace said.
"To the extent that binational plans encourage more people to access preventative and other health care, they should be encouraged," he said.
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The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is one of the nation's leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health-related information on Californians.
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, is the nation's largest state health survey and one of the largest health surveys in the United States.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom.
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Jun 05
2009
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By Placidway
When looking for medical providers abroad, a multitude of factors and considerations need to be addressed by each individual. Assessing the services, benefits, and drawbacks of any specific provider need to be fully researched by a medical tourist in order to gauge the quality of services and effectiveness of treatments. Medical travelers also need to take into consideration such things as location, services rendered, and patient care, post-op support and follow-up.
