US Companies explore foreign health-care

Now I think I have heard it all. First they started to outsource American Jobs overseas and now they want us to go overseas for surgery. What is wrong with this picture?



And Yes some providers already have agreements with Mexico

Insurers Health Net of California already contracts with medical clinics on the Mexico side of the US border.
Same Source as above

Yet illegal immigrants claim they want to come here for better medical care.
And now American companies may want us to go to Mexico :shk:

Now I realize some of the worlds best doctors come from other countries, yet I for one am very concerned over this practice if it takes hold.

What do you think is this good bad or don't you care?

What I don't understand is how can an insurer be getting clinics in other countries like Mexico when the doctors have to be approve in the US.

Unless is something new that I don't know . . . many doctors that comes from other countries have to get certifications and extra classes to be able to work in the US.

So where is the guarantee that they are what they say they are.

Originally posted by marg6043
What I don't understand is how can an insurer be getting clinics in other countries like Mexico when the doctors have to be approve in the US.

What they are proposing is that Americans go to other countries where they are certified so it has nothing to do with the US. From what I could understand that is a risk you will have to take.

They also made mention of malpractice concerns.

Critics say that limited malpractice laws in foreign countries makes such travel risky as well as the prospect of spending 20 hours on an airplane after invasive surgery. Despite the concerns, "medical tourism" is morphing into "global healthcare."

"Global healthcare is coming and American healthcare, which is pricing itself out of reach, needs to know there are alternatives" in order to improve, says Alain Enthoven, senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy in Stanford, Calif.


Source

Frankly I do not like the idea of such a plan, it is just to risky considering you have to take what you get when it comes to doctors who may or may not be what they claim to be. A good example would be the doctor from India who came to the US practiced medicine and then moved to Australia last year. Charge Doctor Death with manslaughter

In that case there were something like 85 or more people that he allegedly did in via malpractice.

Here is what Wiki has to say about him

Patel was born in Jamnagar in Gujarat, India. He trained at the M.P. Shah Medical College at Saurashtra University, and obtained a master's degree in surgery. After graduation he moved to the United States where he received further surgical training at the University of Rochester School of Medicine as a surgical intern and resident of surgery. Patel first began to raise alarm bells in 1984 at a hospital in the city of Buffalo where New York health officials cited Patel for failing to examine patients before surgery. Patel was fined US$5,000 and was placed on three years' clinical probation. In 1989, Patel moved to Oregon and began working for Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Portland. Medical staff alleged that he would often turn up, even on his days off, and perform surgery on patients that were not even his responsibility. In some cases, surgery was not even required, and caused serious injuries or death to the patient.

After a review, Kaiser restricted Patel's practice in 1998, banning him from doing liver and pancreatic surgeries and requiring him to seek second opinions before performing other surgeries. Further, after reviewing four cases in which three patients died, the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners made Patel's restriction statewide in September 2000, and New York State health officials forced him to surrender his license in April 2001.

That is just a part of it check it out very interesting to see what he did in NY, Utah and got away with alone. All he got from the US was fine and slap on the wrist if you will then moved onto AU to kill more. :shk:

I do not know if he was or was not charged with anything in the US but he should have from what I read. Unfortunately the older news stories are not available

[edit on 8/17/2006 by shots]

Note the comments from one of the nurses

"We'd taken to hiding patients. We just thought 'What on earth can we do to stop this man?"


Here is a Google cache of a story from BBC News

news.bbc.co.uk...








[edit on 8/17/2006 by shots]

hell no. No way I am going to a tent in India to get my ACL repaired. Man, that is wild.

I got it now, I thought that American insurers were making people go to other countries for care.

I see now that is just a choice.

Yes I knew about that doctor and many others specially in plastic surgery that clients died under their care.

But they have no problem working in third world countrie.

Originally posted by marg6043
I got it now, I thought that American insurers were making people go to other countries for care.

Making it mandatory is probably in step two of their plan. First you volunteer, next they will make it mandatory.

Originally posted by shots

Originally posted by marg6043
I got it now, I thought that American insurers were making people go to other countries for care.

Making it mandatory is probably in step two of their plan. First you volunteer, next they will make it mandatory.

[gets on soapbox]

I used to work for bxbs. What I'd like to add is this;

the healthy 80% of the population subsidizes the sick 20%. Thats how insurance works. The problem is the 20% is growing, and the 80% is shrinking.

plain and simple

here is where your premium $'s go ;
85%-87% - paying claims
10% overhead
3% - 5% profit

that goes for almost every big national carrier

the top 2 reasons for the 14% trend in premiums is office visits and Rx, It is NOT surgery. Americans as a population are getting more chronic diseases as a %age, and at younger ages. Thus, the claim costs go up.

Add to that the fact that the american population is getting fatter, and the culture is "just give me a pill or cut me open" the insurance companies are not to blame

they are an easy target, but the blame lies in the guy at mcdonalds with a cigarette in his mouth.

we missed the bus in the 90's with managed care. noone wanted to hear about eating right or losing weight or preventative medicine. They hated the idea of a network, but got used to it and then got used to the $10 copay with no balance to pay. we got spoiled

if you want the best equipment and doctors and to live to 85 while eating fast food and smoking, it comes at a price

how to fix it ?

right now, our system is based on where you work more than your personal costs to the system.

There are 3 categories of rating methodolgies in NY state
(assuming same benefits and plans)

community rated - 1 rate for all groups 2-50 employees
blended - part your companies actual claims costs, part the community rate for 51-499 empoloyees

over 500 = your companies actual claims decide your rates

If I work for IBM my costs will be much less than if I work for Joes computers even though I am the same risk

What I would do is use the car insurance model

everyone gets a rate based on their own risk, and can decide what plan they want Add incentives for losing weight, quitting smoking etc

just please don't let the gov't run it, have you ever tried to help someone with a medicare issue ???

total nightmare


[gets off soapbox]

[edit on 17-8-2006 by syrinx high priest]

Well what happen to that percentage of the population that still have to pay high price on insurance while taking care of themselves, exercising and eating well?

Guess what we are the ones that get screw the most. and we don't even need to see the doctor but onces a year for the physical.

that's the whole idea of insurance marg, a pooling of risk. I used to tell people the last thing you ever want to do is get your monies worth from health insurance, its means you are chronically ill...