Obama on discouraging medical tourism
Matthew Yglesias flags a Hindustan Times item, noting President Obama’s response to a townhall question on why U.S. insurance won’t cover treatments received in foreign countries: "My preference would be that you don’t have to travel to Mexico or India for cheap healthcare.. I’d like you to be able to get it right here in ...
Matthew Yglesias flags a Hindustan Times item, noting President Obama's response to a townhall question on why U.S. insurance won't cover treatments received in foreign countries:
Matthew Yglesias flags a Hindustan Times item, noting President Obama’s response to a townhall question on why U.S. insurance won’t cover treatments received in foreign countries:
"My preference would be that you don’t have to travel to Mexico or India for cheap healthcare.. I’d like you to be able to get it right here in the United States of America that’s high quality."
It’s hard to imagine the president giving any other response to this question, but Yglesias is right to suggest that realitically, the U.S. out to be "looking at the practical problems here and trying to find ways to resolve them by developing cross-border standards," rather than condemining people for seeking out affordable alternatives to the American healthcare system. (I don’t think its the preference of most patients to travel to Mexico or India for cheap healthcare either.)
Developing some kind of accreditation system for medical tourism seems like a reasonable step — there have already been some private sector initiatives to introduce more transparency to the industry.
It become trickier for procedures like stem-cell treatments — a growth sector for the medical tourism industry — which are not permitted in the United States. A problem that brings together controversies healthcare costs, off-shoring, medical safety, and abortion rights should certainly provide ample opportunity for political grandstanding.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.