Download PDF - Medical Tourism Magazine

The MTA Advisory Board includes
ROBERT K. CRONE
MD, President & CEO of Harvard Medical International;
Boston, Mass.
JOHN F. P. BRIDGES
PhD, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health; Baltimore, Maryland
PRADEEP THUKRAL
Head of International Marketing at Wockhardt
Hospitals Group; Mumbai, India
THOMAS JOHNSRUD
Senior Consultant, N.A., Parkway Hospital; Singapore
BRAD COOK
International Benefits Director at Hospital Clinica Biblica;
Costa Rica
KAMALJEET SINGH GILL
GM, International Business Development Unit of National
University Hospital; Singapore
JONATHAN EDELHEIT
President, Medical Tourism Association, Inc.;
Palm Beach, Florida
RENEE-MARIE STEPHANO
Esq., General Counsel for Medical Tourism Association
and Editor of The Medical Tourism Magazine
STEPHEN M. WEINER
Esq., Chairman of the Health Law Practice of Mintz, Levin,
Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.; Boston, Mass.
SCOTT A. EDLESTEIN
Esq., of Counsel at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP;
Washington D.C.
DANIEL BONK
Executive VP ~ Central Region, Aurora Healthcare; Wisconsin
FREDERIC J. ENTIN
Esq., Partner at Foley & Lardner, LLP; Chicago, Ill.
MARY ANN KEOUGH
Professor at Eastern Washington University;
Washington State
DALE C. VAN DEMARK
Esq., Member of Epstein, Becker & Green,
PC; Washington, D.C.
KEVIN RYAN
Esq., Member of Epstein, Becker & Green, PC;
Washington D.C.
LAURA CARABELLO
Principal of CPR Communications,
Publisher of Medical Travel Today Newsletter; New York
RUBEN TORAL
Proprietor of MedNet Asia, Ltd.; Bangkok, Thailand
DAVID C. KIBBE
MD, MBA, Principal of The Kibbe Group LLC;
North Carolina
Editorial
America is viewed as the land of the great and the land of opportunity.
Unfortunately, that is painting a pretty rosy picture that isn’t exactly true. At the
end of the day our health care system is broken. It really upsets me that Americans
are so disenchanted with our U.S. health care system that some have to travel
overseas. The fact that hard working taxpaying Americans, whether white, black,
Hispanic, Indian, or Asian or any race have no access to affordable healthcare in the
U.S., while in some cases illegal immigrants get free and better care than Americans is
very frustrating.
The reality is, at the end of the day, almost 50 million Americans have no access to
healthcare, 120 million do not have dental insurance, and the number is growing each
day. Working in the healthcare industry the trend is simple, more and more
employers are canceling their group health insurance because the cost is too high,
and more and more individuals can no longer afford medical insurance.
It gets really bothersome to see the politicians constantly talking about Health Care
being broken in the U.S. Some offer no solutions. The rest offer unrealistic solutions -
Nationalized healthcare, mandatory health care, etc. The politicians talk, but don’t do
anything. Massachusetts passed a law, which soon will go into effect and requires
people to have mandatory health coverage or pay penalties. Hillary Clinton has
proposed mandatory health care also with the possibility of Tax credits. If our health
care system is broken and costs are too high, then why do politicians believe forcing
people to buy health care will solve our problem. It will only continue us down a
negative path, as each year goes by Americans are forced to pay higher prices for ever
increasing cost of health care. Eventually everyone will have mandatory health
insurance they can’t afford.
Why isn’t anyone attacking the actual problem? Why has not one politician
actually stood up and acknowledged the problem. Some of the major costs of our
U.S. health care system today are medical malpractice, high costs of labor, and
inflated costs of medical supplies and prescription drugs. Why do parts for a surgical
procedure in the U.S. cost almost $9,000, while the same parts by the same U.S.
manufacturer for a procedure in India cost only about $2,000? Why does a
prescription drug that costs $1,600 in the U.S. cost $800 in Costa Rica? How is it
that a U.S. trained and board certified doctor in the U.S. can perform a procedure in
India and Thailand for almost up to 80% less than the United States? Why is it that
for certain heart procedures in Asia, American patients spend almost 5 times longer in
the hospital to recover than American patients in American hospitals? Have we given
up on providing quality care in America, and instead race to send the patient home?
When will Politicians stop putting band aids on our health care problem and really
try to fix it? When will everyone in America stand up and say enough is enough and
band together? Obviously not yet! Because on October 2nd a U.S. farmer traveled to
India for surgery he couldn’t afford in the United States. In October a single mother
of two, who hasn’t been able to hold down a job for two years because of a broken
back and tremendous pain, is going to India for surgery she can’t afford in the U.S.
Apparently, no one cares that we are sending Americans overseas for surgery. Since
no one cares, then that leaves us one option. We are in a Global Health Care world,
and we all need to come together to focus on the best quality of care and best
outcomes for Americans going overseas. We need to pull together, because Medical
Tourism is the only real viable solution to America’s health care crisis. Am I ashamed
that we are sending hard working Americans overseas and in
some cases around the world, because that is the only place
they can receive affordable, quality care? Yes, I am. Do I
believe that Americans can get care equal to or in some cases
better care than here in America? I absolutely do.
I hope everyone can come together within this industry and
show everyone how amazing Medical Tourism is, and the
cutting edge medicine and care available globally.
By JONATHAN EDELHEIT
President
Medical Tourism Association