Medical tourists
Medical tourism is nothing new. People have always traveled to somewhere else for some treatment or cure that was not available somewhere else. Whether it is to take to some spring somewhere, or seek drier climates for consumption, since ancient times people have made journeys seeking some medical help.
In contemporary times, "medical tourism" is beginning to mean something else. It has become one of those trends like you would read about in a news magazines or hear about on an NPR program. These days it usually means someone travelling to someplace like India or Thailand or, yes, even China to have some sort of procedure or treatment that would otherwise be really expensive (or not even available) in the US. Additionally, the hospitals that cater to this type of tourist usually have luxurious accommodations, again, at a fairly low price. Even when you factor in the price of two round-trip tickets, for the patient and a companion, the total overall cost for many of these services is much lower than in the US. No wonder some insurance companies are entertaining this option as a way to save money.
I have been joking with Randy that we are now part of that trend, medical tourists. We've been in Hong Kong a week now, most of that time in a hotel. Of course, he points out that really to be part of the current medical tourism trend, we would have sought out Hong Kong as a less expensive alternative, which, unfortunately is not the case. Maybe we could be like Angelina Jolie, choosing a different continent for the birth of each child (we've got North America and Asia covered, two that Angie hasn't even hit for delivery!).
Though, Randy almost took the tourism too far. Yesterday he asked me if I thought we should take a trip up Victoria Peak. I think the look i gave him said it all.
In contemporary times, "medical tourism" is beginning to mean something else. It has become one of those trends like you would read about in a news magazines or hear about on an NPR program. These days it usually means someone travelling to someplace like India or Thailand or, yes, even China to have some sort of procedure or treatment that would otherwise be really expensive (or not even available) in the US. Additionally, the hospitals that cater to this type of tourist usually have luxurious accommodations, again, at a fairly low price. Even when you factor in the price of two round-trip tickets, for the patient and a companion, the total overall cost for many of these services is much lower than in the US. No wonder some insurance companies are entertaining this option as a way to save money.
I have been joking with Randy that we are now part of that trend, medical tourists. We've been in Hong Kong a week now, most of that time in a hotel. Of course, he points out that really to be part of the current medical tourism trend, we would have sought out Hong Kong as a less expensive alternative, which, unfortunately is not the case. Maybe we could be like Angelina Jolie, choosing a different continent for the birth of each child (we've got North America and Asia covered, two that Angie hasn't even hit for delivery!).
Though, Randy almost took the tourism too far. Yesterday he asked me if I thought we should take a trip up Victoria Peak. I think the look i gave him said it all.
Comments
As it turns out, I only had to have one crown.
But I was looking forward to Hungary.
China does great work for crowns, too :-) I got a root canal and porcelain crown for about 5000 RMB, at that time about $700.