Two newspapers recently published articles on the growing trend of U.S. residents traveling abroad to receive more affordable health care. Summaries appear below.MediaNews/San Jose Mercury News: Medical tourism in recent years has expanded from primarily plastic surgery to include more medically necessary procedures like heart bypasses and orthopedic surgeries, MediaNews/Mercury News reports. More than 500,000 U.S. residents in 2005 traveled abroad for medical or dental treatment, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. MediaNews/Mercury News notes several indications that going abroad for treatment is becoming a more popular option for U.S. residents: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association includes an India hospital in its network of participating hospitals; California insurer Health Net contracts with clinics in Mexico; and West Virginia's Legislature is considering a bill that would encourage state employees to have non-emergency surgeries performed abroad. "[M]ore than a dozen popular medical tourism destinations charge from 25% to 80% less" for procedures than they would cost in the U.S., MediaNews/Mercury News reports (Tatko-Peterson, MediaNews/San Jose Mercury News, 10/16).

New York Times: A "growing number of Americans are ... traveling to countries like Thailand, Costa Rica and Malaysia" for medical and dental treatments, the Times reports. U.S. residents might be put "at ease" by the number of U.S.-trained doctors abroad and an increasing number of hospitals that are certified by the Joint Commission International -- the international branch of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations -- which ensures that hospitals have interpreters, qualified medical staff and meet U.S. standards for safety and cleanliness. However, accreditation "does not guarantee a good outcome," and patients might not have the same rights to litigation abroad as they would in the U.S., the Times reports. The practice also has "spawned a cottage industry of travel agencies willing" to arrange for medical care abroad, according to the Times. New York-based Medical Tours International, which last year sent 1,324 patients abroad for medical procedures, employs 12 registered nurses and three doctors who help patients plan their trips. The company's staff "also visit and check out the overseas hospitals -- noting, for example, whether they have emergency evacuation signs in English -- and evaluate doctors, requesting copies of their credentials, talking with doctors' colleagues and reading what patients say about them on online message boards," the Times reports (Alsever, New York Times, 10/15).

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