As U.S. health row rages, many seek care in Mexico

[Meirionnydd]

NACO, Mexico (Reuters) - Retired police officer Bob Ritz has health insurance that covers his medical and dental care in the United States.

But every few months he drives from his home in Tombstone, Arizona, to this small town in northern Mexico to avoid the healthcare costs that aren't paid by insurance.

"I pay $400 a month for my health insurance, and it's still cheaper to come to Mexico," says Ritz, 60, as he stood outside a sun-bleached pharmacy in Naco, a few hours drive southeast of Phoenix.

President Barack Obama is locked in a bitter fight to overhaul U.S. healthcare, as he seeks to increase the number of Americans getting coverage and drive down costs of around $2.5 trillion a year.

Republican critics charge that Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress are seeking a government takeover of healthcare that will drive up the budget deficit.

With Washington bickering over how to reform the system and contain its spiraling costs, many Americans like Ritz simply head to Mexico to get care they can afford.

The total number making the trip is unclear. But a recent study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research estimated that nearly 1 million people from California alone seek medical, dental or prescription services in Mexico each year.

Some making the trek have little or no medical coverage. Others like Ritz are on fixed incomes and want to avoid so-called co-pays and deductibles charged by U.S. insurers on top of policies that routinely cost from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand each month.

"The very wealthy can afford whatever they want, the very poor get it through aid, but the working and the middle-class have to struggle to pay insurance," said Ritz, who worked as a police officer in Chicago for 28 years.

"I'm very lucky to live near enough to Mexico to get good healthcare at a reasonable price," he added.

BROKEN BONES AND BRONCHITIS

Healthcare reform is the flagship domestic policy drive of Obama's first year in office.

He wants coverage for around 46 million uninsured Americans and to rein in rising medical costs, and regulate insurers that already provide care to millions more.

Republican opponents say Obama's plan amounts to socialism by stealth and argue that its trillion-dollar price tag will hurt the economy as the United States remains mired in the worst recession in decades.

While the bitter row continues to rage at town hall meetings across the United States, signs of the U.S. system's failings are visible in Mexican border cities, where cut-price pharmacies, dental clinics and doctors' surgeries vie for business from Americans who can't afford treatment at home.

In Tijuana, where medical tourism from neighboring San Diego is big business, clinics offer operations ranging from cut-rate cosmetic procedures to hysterectomies and bariatric surgery to curb obesity.

"I waste up to four hours coming to an appointment, but it's worth it as we'll save thousands of dollars," said Beatriz Iturriaga, a 26-year-old mother of two from Eastlake, south of San Diego, who paid $6,500 for bariatric surgery at a Tijuana clinic that would cost up to $40,000 stateside.

At the other end of the cost spectrum in Naco, Mexican physician Sixto de la Pena Cortes charges the 15 or so Americans that trek to his clinic-cum-pharmacy each week $20 for a check-up -- the cost of an average co-pay in the United States.

"Most common (ailments) are bronchitis, pneumonia and stomach problems," said de la Pena Cortes, 62, who said he has also set broken bones and arranged for an appendix to be removed at a hospital in nearby Agua Prieta at a cost of around $2,000

As U.S. health row rages, many seek care in Mexico | U.S. | Reuters

 

[retro]

I know I'm all about getting treated in what amounts to a 3rd World Country..... except not. The amount of people that might do that are far lower than the article might lead you to believe. Especially when you consider that nearly half the country rates the US Health Care system as "good or excellent" while only 19% rate it as "poor". Then when you dig further into the numbers you'll find that 74% of Americans rate the quality of care that they receive as "good or excellent" while 7% rate their care quality as "poor". 80% of Americans who currently have their own insurance rate their coverage as "good or excellent".

Source --- as I'm sure there are those who won't believe me

 

[Accountable]

I say more power to them. Viva la libertad!

 

[Alien Allen]

Gee I never knew Mexico had better care than Canada

My doc told me about a woman from Canada that came to the states regularly for care. She even paid cash for a lumpectomy and radiation rather than to get the care in Windsor Canada where she lived.

 

[Lord Stanley]

Gee I never knew Mexico had better care than Canada

My doc told me about a woman from Canada that came to the states regularly for care. She even paid cash for a lumpectomy and radiation rather than to get the care in Windsor Canada where she lived.

yeah happens a lot, we have good quality but in most cases very long wait times

 

[Alien Allen]

yeah happens a lot, we have good quality but in most cases very long wait times

If I travel over to Windsor and break a leg or have an accident do I get covered or does the Canadian govt demand being reimbursed?

 

[Lord Stanley]

If I travel over to Windsor and break a leg or have an accident do I get covered or does the Canadian govt demand being reimbursed?

so far as I know the Ontario govt would seek reimbursement

 

[Minor Axis]

Mexico's Health Care System Lures Americans.

What is wrong with this picture? I have to ask myself why conservatives don't want to talk about why the U.S. has the highest pharmaceutical and medical expenses in the world? Why they, health-care end users, would pick corporations, who are only motivated only by profit, and in many cases self-enrichment of their executives over a government, that while far from perfect, is currently much more representative of it's citizens welfare. The only answer is a government looking out for it's citizens. If you don't want that maybe an anarchist state would be a better choice for you.

 

[nova]

Why they, health-care end users, would pick corporations, who are only motivated only by profit, and in many cases self-enrichment of their executives over a government, that while far from perfect, is currently much more representative of it's citizens welfare.

Because however ugly and nasty my health insurance provider may be, its one helluva lot easier to change health insurance corporations than it is to change the federal gov't and whatever decisions and edicts the health insurance corporation lays down, are not enforced at the point of the spear...

 

[Accountable]

Mexico's Health Care System Lures Americans.

What is wrong with this picture? I have to ask myself why conservatives don't want to talk about why the U.S. has the highest pharmaceutical and medical expenses in the world? Why they, health-care end users, would pick corporations, who are only motivated only by profit, and in many cases self-enrichment of their executives over a government, that while far from perfect, is currently much more representative of it's citizens welfare. The only answer is a government looking out for it's citizens. If you don't want that maybe an anarchist state would be a better choice for you.

If that's the only answer (and there is never only one answer), look to your state government.

btw, the prices are high because gov't & insurance have mucked up the capitalist free trade process. Lasik surgery prices are falling steadily, because it's not covered.

 

[Minor Axis]

If that's the only answer (and there is never only one answer), look to your state government.

btw, the prices are high because gov't & insurance have mucked up the capitalist free trade process. Lasik surgery prices are falling steadily, because it's not covered.

Or because there are too many of those types of clinics. BTW, I'd think twice about going to a two-eye $700 lasik procedure. Our friend who went there had absolutely no follow up, but nothing bad happened to her. I think she was lucky.

 

[Minor Axis]

I would not argue that doctors could be attempting to game the system to maximize income by inflating prices, but I hope you are not trying to argue that insurance as a principle is a bad thing? My latest annual physical was billed at $870 dollars to Blue Cross Blue Shield. I ended up paying $300 out of pocket. Twenty years ago my co-pay was $8 for the same thing. My company paid the rest. How much less of a percentage of my medical bills is my company paying today- I don't know. How much more overall are they paying versus 20 years ago. No idea but I assume it's gone up substantially.

Medical expenses would have to free fall for average families to afford typical bills. Being seriously ill is not something most people are going to want years for the cost of medicine to fall based on competition and market forces.

Due to the new 1000 character post limit, this response and the one before it has to be split. Together would they look excessively long to anyone as a single post?

 

[Accountable]

Insurance is a tool. Used appropriately, it is a very good thing. But instead of using insurance to help pay for catastrophc emergencies, our natural propensity to take the easy road has resulted in depending on insurance to pay for essentials so that we can use that money to buy frivolous toys and other niceties. Such a practice benefits big business, big insurance, and big government, so they all encourage it.

 

[Minor Axis]

Insurance is a tool. Used appropriately, it is a very good thing. But instead of using insurance to help pay for catastrophc emergencies, our natural propensity to take the easy road has resulted in depending on insurance to pay for essentials so that we can use that money to buy frivolous toys and other niceties. Such a practice benefits big business, big insurance, and big government, so they all encourage it.

Huh? Insurance has been offered over the years as a form of compensation paid for by the employer. Who are you blaming?

 

[Alien Allen]

Huh? Insurance has been offered over the years as a form of compensation paid for by the employer. Who are you blaming?

It has become an entitlement that has greatly expanded from its origins. Where it was mean to insure and not cover every ailment. Interesting you consider it compensation. Which I agree with. It should be taxed accordingly. And people should have freedom to determine what level of coverage they want. Obamas plan is very poorly laid out. Are we going to see options where one could have a high deductible with copays and yet the premium is greatly reduced?? Why no health savings accounts?

 

[Alien Allen]

I just looked into revamping our Blue Cross HMO. I have 7 employees. Currently with a $250 deductible and then 80/20 for most stuff. Office visits are $30 and medicine is $10/$30 Max out of pocket is $3500 per family

If I switch to a $1000 deductible I can save over $13k a year. Even if I agree to compensate the employees for the difference between the $250 and $1k deductible I will save about $5k a year. These are the type of savings people need to look into rather than what had become the norm which was damn near everything but the office visit covered. This is how you save money.

 

[nova]

Color me shocked. The price of insurance actually becomes reasonable when the level of coverage is reasonable? Whooda thunkit?

 

[Minor Axis]

I just looked into revamping our Blue Cross HMO. I have 7 employees. Currently with a $250 deductible and then 80/20 for most stuff. Office visits are $30 and medicine is $10/$30 Max out of pocket is $3500 per family

If I switch to a $1000 deductible I can save over $13k a year. Even if I agree to compensate the employees for the difference between the $250 and $1k deductible I will save about $5k a year. These are the type of savings people need to look into rather than what had become the norm which was damn near everything but the office visit covered. This is how you save money.

What is the individual lifetime cap? That is about what I have, but the deductible may be a little lower.

 

[Minor Axis]

Color me shocked. The price of insurance actually becomes reasonable when the level of coverage is reasonable? Whooda thunkit?

There are pressures driving up insurance costs. As I previously said, my co-pay 20 years ago was $8, and that is all I paid. Costs are rising rapidly. Just because Allen can cover his employees today does not mean he'll be able to in the foreseeable future.

 

[Alien Allen]

Color me shocked. The price of insurance actually becomes reasonable when the level of coverage is reasonable? Whooda thunkit?

Umm, no it still is damn expensive. I forget the bottom line each month. I will try to remember to post that.

What is the individual lifetime cap? That is about what I have, but the deductible may be a little lower.

I do not recall. I am thinking a couple million ??? I will have to check. It is the standard what ever that is. When checking plans the lifetime never comes up.