USA: Healthcare reform’s effect on US medical tourism

August 16, 2011

One of the “big issues” for discussion in medical tourism in the USA is whether healthcare reform will encourage employers to stop paying for healthcare. Various arguments and ‘statistics’ have been put forward to suggest that US healthcare reform will drive large numbers of US patients overseas for treatment. It is argued that employers will drop health coverage for workers, that people will pay the fines for not having health insurance rather than buy individual healthcare, that there will not be enough US doctors and that a major proportion of the ageing US population will be crippled with disease and the healthcare system will be overwhelmed.  (IMTJ)