Moderate Democrats are putting the brakes on healthcare reform. One of the current proposals for moving forward after the party lost the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts is a risky political calculation. Budget reconciliation would require just 51 votes, and would allow the House of Representatives to have input on tax- and spending-related issues, such as family individual health insurance subsidies. However, an increasing number of legislators fear that doing so will give the impression of steamrolling over the will of the people. In a mid-term election, leaving constituents with that perception is disasterous. (more…)

Currently, the fate of healthcare reform remains up in the air. The recent loss in Massaschusetts’ special election for the Senate means that Democrats in Congress need to regroup. It is unlikely that the legislation will survive in its current form. Married couples may benefit from lower health insurance rates if the existing bill dies. While the majority of married couples with employer-sponsred health insurance will be unaffected, those needing to buy health insurance through subsidized exchange markets would suffer if it passed. (more…)

The British newspaper The Independent reports that Britain’s National Health Service could save millions if the Department of Health considered utilizing medical tourism. “Thousands of patients waiting for operations such as hip replacements and hernia repairs could be treated more cheaply and quickly if the Government set up formal agreements” with medical tourism destinations, the report says.

Currently, the publicly-funded health service provides healthcare to all residents free 0f charge, but there has been criticism surrounding the wait times for many elective procedures. The Independent article argues that these wait times could be reduced through medical tourism, while saving a significant amount of money.

“At least £120m could be saved,” says the article, “if NHS patients currently waiting for just five different operations went to India, with a companion, for treatment in an accredited hospital, according to health economists’ calculations.” India is one of many medical tourism destinations, many of which provide a quality of healthcare equal to or better than that in Britain, say experts.

Hundreds of thousands of people are already taking advantage of medical tourism on their own. Britons make up a large portion of medical tourists, as do uninsured Americans who cannot afford the high cost of many medical treatments in the United States. “The estimated number of medical tourists worldwide each year ranges from four million to 617 million,” says the Independent.

In the coming years, many expect that governments around the world will start to consider medical tourism as a solution to rising medical costs and wait lists. Developing countries such as India, Thailand, and Mexico, as well as highly-developed countries such as Singapore and Taiwan can provide many medical procedures for a fraction of the cost in Britain and the United States. As populations continue to age in western countries, many expect medical tourism to experience tremendous growth.

Don Gilliland is the Chief Operating Officer of Formosa Medical Travel, an agency promoting medical tourism in Taiwan.