Guest Columnist

Americans cross U.S.-Mexico border for healthcare

by Too Sense

If for some reason, Republicans have managed to convince you that there isn’t a health care crisis in this country, this will probably change your mind. Desperate Americans are now crossing the border into Mexico to find affordable health care, particularly from dentists. While the Wapo identifies many of those crossing into Mexico for care as undocumented immigrants, not all of them are. The Washington Post reported:

In a recent University of Texas study, 86 percent of low-income El Paso residents surveyed — half of whom were illegal immigrants — said they receive medical care or buy prescription drugs from Mexico. Similarly, a study published in the Pan-American Journal of Health found that more than 37 percent of uninsured New Mexico border residents get medical care in Mexico.

Americans travel to Mexico for stomach surgery, eye exams and routine checkups. But it is the dentistas — thousands of them strung along the border — who are in the vanguard in attracting U.S. health consumers.

Mexican dentists often charge one-fifth to one-fourth of U.S. prices. Their operating costs are substantially lower than those in the United States, and because the Mexican legal system makes it almost impossible to sue them, they don’t have to worry about high malpractice insurance premiums.

With news like this, I can understand why the Bush Administration is feeling paranoid about SiCKO.

Posted at 11:59 AM, Jun 18, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments