Medical Tourism?

This has become more and more popular by Americans and people from other wealthier nations to go to other countries for medical procedures. For example, a few years ago a friend of mine was toying with the idea of going to South Korea or Thailand for a torn rotator cuff from a fall skiing. He decided against it because a doctor told him the tear wasn't bad enough for him to do this and might repair itself.

I have also considered going to South Korea or Thailand for a medical procedure as well over the years. 

However, there are drawbacks to wherever you want to go of various kinds.

For example, though you likely will get great medical Care in a place like South Korea which has one of the best medical systems on earth you still have to fly 11 hours from even San Francisco straight to get there. Then you have to accept that air blowing over from Beijing across the Yellow sea might necessitate you wearing a mask while going outside so you don't harm your lungs depending upon the winds that day.

Also, if you cannot speak Korean this could be a problem too because in places like South Korea and Thailand not many people speak English or they  choose not to speak it even if they know it because they might be embarrassed of their accent in not speaking English perfectly. 

So, the medical system might be really good in places like Thailand or South Korea for example, but there are other things to consider going to countries where they don't speak English.

So, for example, if I was going to have a medical procedure I might want to go to either Canada or England first as long as I had a good idea of how good the doctors were going to be where I was going and I had a good appointment. 

But, you also have to consider that you are going to have to pay for some place to stay and if there is recovery time before you can get on a plane home that is something to think about paying for too.

Also, what if there are unexpected complications while you are in another country. What then?

For example, in the early 1970s I lived in the San Diego Area so going to Tijuana, Mexico for Dental Care was very reasonable then.

I got an eye tooth at around age 25 taken care of that was my first root canal for 125 dollars then in the 1970s which was very reasonable. However, a pain killer for this procedure was optional depending upon whether I wanted to pay for Novocaine or not.

I remember wanting to be macho and having a root canal without any pain killers and realized soon that if I passed out from the pain that passing out the dentist might slip with the drill and damage me more seriously. After this I asked for the Novocaine and things went much better after that.

So, in theory medical tourism might sound wonderful but if you aren't prepared for what you are actually going to face both psychologically and physically and monetarily then maybe it really isn't as good of an idea as you first thought.