Medical tourism: Mexico for cost, quality, access

Today's Dallas Morning News has an article about the great medical care available south of the border for a fraction of the cost of comparable care here in Texas and without the delays and hassles. This is just the latest wrinkle in the unfolding story of medical tourism, which has already established India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand as "go to" destinations for patients seeking high-quality, low-cost medical care.

My new colleague, Nathan Cortez, has an excellent piece on this phenomenon coming out soon in the Indiana Law Journal: "Patients without Borders: The Emerging Global Market for Patients and the Evolution of Modern Health Care." Here's the SSRN abstract:

This article addresses the unique legal, policy, and ethical questions that arise when patients travel to foreign jurisdictions for medical care. A growing number of patients are leaving the United States, and employers, insurers, and even government payors are beginning to explore whether they can reduce spending by utilizing hospitals and physicians in developing countries. Because this is a dramatic leap, it has generated countless media stories, and has drawn attention from the WHO, WTO, World Bank, and U.S. Senate - many of which believe so-called medical tourism may transform health care here and abroad.

Despite this attention, the market is developing independently of lawmakers and regulators. This is troubling because patients are effectively waiving their rights and benefits in the U.S. to seek medical care in countries that may not grant them remotely similar protections.

This article assesses the risk-benefit calculus for patients and payors entering the global patient market by examining how the market may affect health care costs, quality, and access - the three canonical themes of health care. Using this framework, I consider several policy responses, such as regulating patient travel, regulating referral networks, and regulating employers and insurers. Relying on previous regulatory efforts in analogous areas, I criticize some responses as either impractical or foreclosed by current constitutional doctrine governing the rights to travel and free speech. Instead, I propose that we build on existing consumer protection laws, expand licensing regimes, and recalibrate existing schemes that may unfairly allocate the risks and benefits. I also analyze the feasibility of public and quasi-public multilateral responses.

The underlying goal of this article is to examine how globalization is fundamentally changing health care. Medical tourism is both a symptom and a solution to what ails the U.S. health care system, and the issues it presents may portend future challenges.