Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

Notes ● 21784. The services of a boutique doctor entail the following: After paying a yearlyretainer (around $1500), a patient buys perks such as always being able to reachone’s doctor, and assuring time with him and attention. On assignment fromHarper’s, journalist James McManus went to Mayo clinic for the Executive HealthProgram in which extended and elaborate physical exam is conducted by a seriesof specialists doing diagnostic tests for out-of-pocket $8,500 (James McManus,Physical, An American Checkup (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2005)).85. Milken Institute Global Conference, Luncheon Panel—A Discussion with NobelLaureates in Economics (April 19, 2005), www.milkeninstitute.org/events/events.taf?function=show&cat=allconf&EventID=GC05&level1=program&level2=agenda&EvID=470&ID=145&mode=print, accessed January 30, 2006.86. President Bush’s State of the Union speech in 2006 dealt with health care.Also under discussion are the strengthening of health savings accounts,medical liability reform, and the wider use of electronic records. The growingnumber of uninsured, or the rising costs of medical care were not addressed.87. There are proposals that government would subcontract to private doctors andhospitals for surgeries such as knee and hip replacements as well as cataractsurgery if the public hospital cannot deliver the service within six months.New York Times, February 20, 2006.88. For a discussion on choice in health care, see Cogan, Hubbard, and Kessler,Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System(Washington: AEI Press, 2005).89. Unmesh Kher, “Outsourcing Your Heart,” Time, May 21, 2006.90. Jorge Augusto Arredondo Vega, “The Case of the Mexico-United States,” p. 161.91. Rupa Chanda, “Trade in Health Services,” CMH Working Paper SeriesWG4:5, WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, 2001, p. 58.92. New York Times, January 29, 2006.93. “Indian Hospitals Can Cater for U.S. Corporates,” The Hindu: Tamil Nadu/Chennai News, March 11, 2006, www.globalhealthtours.com/medical_news/2006_03_12_archive.htm, accessed June 7, 2006.94. Many costs would decrease, not the least of which is the cost of labor. Withpressure from competition in developing countries, demand for medical carein Western states will put downward pressure on wages of doctors.95. This applies to only 15 selected procedures. Mattoo and Rathindran, “HowHealth Insurance Inhibits Trade.”96. Ivy Teh and Calvin Chu, “Supplementing Growth with Medical Tourism,”Special Report: Medical Tourism Asia Pacific Biotech News 9, no. 8 (2005).97. Mattoo and Rathindran, “How Health Insurance Inhibits Trade.”98. Insurance companies would have to devise plans with incentives and disincentivesin order to address the problem of overconsumption.99. Jim Landers, “India Luring Westerners With Low-Cost Surgeries,” DallasMorning News, November 16, 2006.100. “Health Tourism Threat in Germany,” Scrip, June 12, 1998.101. There is discussion that different rules might apply for those residing inborder areas.