Those having trouble paying for adequate health care could become a “medical tourist” and seek more affordable services outside of the country, suggested one respondent to my blog on Monday, focusing on our system's shortcomings raised in Michael Moore's “Sicko” documentary. Is this really what we've come to in the United States? Having to offshore our own medical care???

I personally think it's crazy to have to travel elsewhere for cheaper (but hopefully adequate) care, but apparently this is increasingly the norm, rather than the exception, for many unfortunate Americans–with or without health insurance.

I knew the trend was hitting the mainstream when I saw an episode of “Boston Legal” last fall, in which the slightly demented trial attorney, William Shatner's Denny Crane, took on the defense of someone suing an HMO when an insured died after being sent to a Third World country for cheaper surgery.

The deal must sound good to people on paper. We fly you (and perhaps even your spouse) to another country, where you will have your procedure done, and then recover in some luxury resort. It's still substantially cheaper than getting the same work done in a U.S. facility, supporters contend.

If you don't have any insurance at all, and you must pay for some heart transplant or the like out of your own pocket, this option must seem even more attractive–if not your only hope!

This is nothing new. Indeed, there are Web sites devoted to helping people plan their medical retreats (click here to sample just one such service). America's Health Insurance Plans sponsored an audio conference back in February called “Traveling Abroad For Health Care: New Trend In Care Or Creative Opportunity?”

Am I the only one who thinks this is perhaps THE definitive sign that our own patchwork health care system is in desperate need of massive reform? How can you defend a system so screwed up that our people must literally leave the country to get the care they need?

Many are already buying cheaper drugs from Canada, you may shrug. Medical tourism is merely the next logical step…into the abyss!

I personally think it's a disgrace that American citizens have to leave their own country to get medical care. Do you agree? Or do you think more health plans and individuals should adopt this “innovative” solution?

A word of warning for HMOs, traditional health carriers or those firms that self-insure their benefit plans: Don't ignore the lesson of that “Boston Legal” episode.

The madcap series makes a very serious point: Sending people out of the country for an uncertain quality of medical care, and putting sick and recovering people through the stress of long-distance travel outside U.S. borders, no doubt will open up a slew of new exposures and liabilities for clever trial lawyers to exploit. You may save money now on health claims, but you could come to regret your latest cost dodge when angry juries slap you with tens of millions in punitive damages.

I ask you again, is this really what America has come to???

Special Reports /

Medical 'Tourism' Is No Vacation

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