Thursday, December 25, 2008

"BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD"

That's a wingnut meme and it's demonstrably false. Nontheless, the wingnuts try to support it with a number of specious arguments, such as the fact that our system is so good, people from other countries come here for treatment. The reverse is also true:

Mexican Hospitals Aim To Attract More Americans
by Jason Beaubien

NPR.org, December 26, 2008 · As many Americans struggle to pay for health care or health insurance, hospitals in Mexico are expanding in hopes of attracting more patients from north of the border — in addition, a rapidly growing industry is marketing "medical tourism" to Americans.

Grupo Angeles is the largest private hospital network in Latin America. Its hospital in Tijuana is a modern six-story building. Its glass lobby accented with orange looks like it could be the set for a soap opera.

Carlos Zavala Ruiz, the business director for Hospital Angeles Tijuana, says this facility opened three years ago.

"As you can see, all the equipment is just brand new," he says.

Right now, about 50 percent of this hospital's business comes from north of the border. Americans mainly come for elective surgeries, like hip and knee replacements, laser eye surgery and plastic surgery.

The greatest number come for treatments for extreme obesity. Hospital Angeles offers gastric bypass surgeries; it inserts gastric sleeves and installs lap bands.

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