The recent kidnapping of four Americans exposed me to the medical tourism going on in America. I have always thought that the US was a perfect country has very functional health, economic, and political systems. I thought all Americans have access to cheap and quality medical services until I read that over one million Americans go on medical tourism in Mexico yearly.
And the reason why some of them choose Mexico was because of its quality and low cost. These medical tourists are aware that it is risky to do to some parts of Mexico, but they still go there because they want to cut costs.
Is there any other reason why Americans go to Mexico for medical?
It's not a new or particularly unsurprising phenomenon and takes place in many regions across the world. The fact is that there are massive cost disparities across borders which means that medical staff, facilities and supplies of the same standard can be much cheaper. It happens in Europe with people travelling to places like Turkey for surgery. However there can be some more lax standards in general so you really need to understand the quality of the service you'll get or it can be disastrous for your health.