The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism

Choice of provider could have big effect on your premiums

(NEWSER) - Yet another factor that could put a crimp in your wallet when it comes to health care: The cost of procedures such as colonoscopies, mammograms, and Pap smears vary wildly across the nation, according to a new report picked up by USA Today . Researchers found that colonoscopies, for instance, could total anywhere between $786 and $1,819, depending on such factors as where you live and whether you have it done in a hospital or a doctor's office. More»

That's up 7% from last year, say analysts

(NEWSER) - Health care costs for a family of four covered on an employer's insurance plan are expected to exceed $20,000 this year, an increase of 7% from last year—and more than double the $9,235 it would set you back in 2002. Under such plans, employers pay a large portion, but the portion employees have been asked to shoulder is increasing—meaning higher premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. Last year, employees paid $3,280 out-of-pocket to cover a family of four, an increase of 9.2%. More»

Even as insurance premium growth slows

(NEWSER) - Employers foisted a lot more health insurance costs onto their employees this year than last, even though premiums only inched upwards, according to an annual survey. Though premiums for businesses rose just 3% this year—their lowest increase in a decade—the cost the average employee was paying jumped 14%, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s the first time I can remember when employers have coped with costs by shifting it all to workers,” said the head of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which issued the survey. More»

(NEWSER) - For a clear example of our warped health care system, look no further than McAllen, Texas. The border town is second only to Miami in how much it spends on health care per person—$15,000 per Medicare enrollee, twice the national average. The problem? Atul Gawande of the New Yorker finds a town entrenched in the culture of too much medicine—patients get more tests, more hospital care, more surgery, more everything. And while those patients don't necessarily get healthier, hospitals and doctors certainly get richer. More»

Health costs, medical errors scare more than in other rich nations

(NEWSER) - Chronically ill Americans are more likely to forgo medical care because of high costs or bad experiences than counterparts in a number of other rich nations, a study finds. Researchers interviewed 7,500 adults with conditions like cancer, arthritis, depression, and diabetes, and the Americans led the complaints. Dutch patients had the fewest qualms, Reuters reports. More»