The New Medical Tourism

It's a fairly common story these days:

"Thousands of "health tourists" are going as far as India, Malaysia and South Africa for major operations – such is their despair over the quality of health services."

But they're not leaving Hoboken or Kokomo, or even LA:

"The first survey of Britons opting for treatment overseas shows that fears of hospital infections and frustration with NHS waiting lists are fuelling the increasing trend."

What's interesting is that we see "medical tourism" here, as well, but it's all about price. There are no waiting lines, and few concerns about quality of care. Americans are famous bargain hunters, and medical care doesn't seem immune.

But for our cousins across The Pond, it's quite obviously not about price (after all, it's "free"), but the very real lack of care, both in quantity (waiting lists) and quality (lack of sanitation, for example).

"More than 70,000 Britons will have treatment abroad this year – a figure that is forecast to rise to almost 200,000 by the end of the decade."

That's a lot of "tourists."