Americans and Canada medical tourism
The cost of health care is a widely debated and heated discussion in most developed countries in the world.
Advocates for low-income patients want to make sure that they have access to the same quality of care that more affluent patients would.
While on the other hand, skilled doctors, nurses, researcher and other professionals in the medical industry do deserve to be fairly compensated for their time and expertise. For patients looking for a way to get the procedures they are looking for, all they want is quality and a fair price they can afford. It is difficult to find middle ground that everyone can agree on.
More and more American patients are turning to Canada for a solution to their dilemma. There are a lot of cold hard facts that explain the reasons for this. Firstly, the average cost for a procedure or a hospital stay in Canada is half of what it would cost in America. Mostly because of their socialized medial care system. This same logic applies to prescription medication.
It's not uncommon to hear stories about senior citizens or other patients on high cost maintenance drugs, driving over the Canadian/American boarder to buy them.
They are in every way the same drugs and in many cases, manufactured by the same companies. But, Canada's system has eliminated a lot of the overhead costs that drive the cost medical care higher in America.
When you take a look at the statistics for medical care in both countries, most of them are very close, varying by no more than 4% in most cases, but in nearly all categories of care, Canada manages to stay ahead of the game. More nurses per patient, more beds, lower in-hospital mortality rates and overall satisfaction with their experience is higher.
Canadians and Medical Tourism
Despite all the positive things about the system that Canada has in place, it's far from perfect. Even Canadians find the idea of traveling abroad for less expensive medical care very appealing.
Very long waiting lists for transplants and other procedures makes taking a trip to get treatment in India or other countries in Europe such as Germany and Hungary as easy decision for some. Not to mention the fact that these trips also feel like vacations is also a big plus!
In addition, Canadians who have a procedure done outside of the country that is medically necessary and not available to them in their own country can be reimbursed for the cost of their treatment by the government.
If the waiting list for treatment is years behind, in some cases that also qualifies as an “unavailable” service. Some would say this is a kind of “queue-jumping”, but in the end, when your life is as stake, most feel that doesn't matter.
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