If American health care is so great, then why are Americans going to Mexico for dental work?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080201/lf_n...

If American health care is so great, then why are Americans going to Mexico for dental work?
American health care is one of the best in the world, but many Americans have been priced out of it by private insurance companies.
Reply:Yes.


Because both the US %26amp; Mexico have Great Health Care, as compared to the Socialist Care in backwards Canada.





Hundreds of Thousands of Europeans %26amp; Canadians come to the US for their Health Care.





(It wasn't Americans, honey. It was Britians that are going to other countries for Dental Work. You got a little confused.)
Reply:because its cheaper... i mean you can go get an operation done in your buddies garage for 20 dollars, does that mean that it will be done as well as if you went to the hospital and paid 10000? american prices are high because of the rediculously high quality of the medical care you recieve here.
Reply:I'm not, my dentist is great
Reply:Health insurance does not cover dental





Thats a seperate insurance.
Reply:I wouldn't take that story as an overall indication of fact.





It's the usual myth-promulgation that American's are starving, miserable people who can only improve things by having their taxes increased.
Reply:Two things you should know. First, Mexico's income per capita is about 4 times less than that of the US. So the $190 Mexicans pay for a crown is a greater expenditure for the average Mexican than the $600 crown is for the average American b/c of the personal wealth and income disparities b/w the countries. If you are an American going to Mexico for dental care you get a first world income and pay third world prices for your dental service, so you sort of cheat the system. Good for them.


http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_de...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou...





Second, that dental instruction and technology the good Mexican dentists are using comes from the US. There is more medical research and top quality instruction in the US than anywhere in the world, so while we might pay higher prices, the US produces more of than its share of medical innovations which benefit the entire globe. A lot of countries around the world free ride off of our knowledge and technology, and if the US started charging the same as Mexico for medical services, that would kill the golden goose.





I'm not saying the US shouldn't take steps to control medical costs and make insurance more affordable, but a wholesale switch to socialist medicine would be a bad idea.
Reply:the dental assisant is hot!
Reply:so they don't look like buck tooth billary
Reply:The question is not so much about the quality of care as it is about the COST of health care. US Is probably 4 times more expensive than Mexico
Reply:Because in Mexico they don't take appointments and you wait in line all day to get a turn. They also don't have nice facility's to pay for or new equipment.
Reply:Like the article says: to save MONEY! My AMERICAN aunt had all her teeth capped in Mexico for about 1/4 of what she would have paid in the US. They did a wonderful job %26amp; she had a great vacation!
Reply:Actually, no one thinks, or says, that except for conservative greed-mongers and their uneducated and witless followers.





In fact, with the exception of Italy, Americans express more dissatisfied with their healthcare than the citizens of every other developed nation, including England, France, Germany, and Canada.





And, here is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ranking of national healthcare systems:





Rank Country





1 France


2 Italy


3 San Marino


4 Andorra


5 Malta


6 Singapore


7 Spain


8 Oman


9 Austria


10 Japan


11 Norway


12 Portugal


13 Monaco


14 Greece


15 Iceland


16 Luxembourg


17 Netherlands


18 United Kingdom


19 Ireland


20 Switzerland


21 Belgium


22 Colombia


23 Sweden


24 Cyprus


25 Germany


26 Saudi Arabia


27 United Arab Emirates


28 Israel


29 Morocco


30 Canada


31 Finland


32 Australia


33 Chile


34 Denmark


35 Dominica


36 Costa Rica


37 United States of America


38 Slovenia


39 Cuba


40 Brunei


41 New Zealand


42 Bahrain


43 Croatia


44 Qatar


45 Kuwait


46 Barbados


47 Thailand


48 Czech Republic


49 Malaysia


50 Poland





1.The US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. It is almost twice as expensive as every other developed nation. This is largely due to administrative costs which account for 19-25% of healthcare costs, and up to 34% at for-profit hospitals.





2.Other than South Africa, America is the only developed country in the world that does not provide healthcare for all of its citizens.





3.Yet, the US ranks 26th in infant mortality and 24th in the number of healthy years a person can expect to live - putting America’s healthcare system in the company of Cuba and Slovenia rather than Canada and Western European nations.








http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.p...





http://pub.ucsf.edu/newsservices/release...
Reply:Well, there's part of the problem. I didn't read anything about substandard care in the USA, but pricing. In fact the article implies care is better here than there, Hmm? People say heath care is the problem, no, it's the price. Price of insurance, which I pay dental out of pocket, and price of care, which of course is a different in Mexico, but also malpractice insurance premiums, which are also lower. So once again, open the market up, cap malpractice claims, pass loser pays in civil suits, prices go down.





A lot of the problems with price are due to closed markets and insurance companies. And crazy malpractice claims.
Reply:Because Americans have the freedom of choosing their own doctors and health care. They don't have money taken from them by an authoritarian government that then dictates which doctors they are allowed to see and what work they are permitted to have.
Reply:US health care is great. For those who can afford it. Health tourism is present across the world. In the UK, people do the same, as do many others in other countries, travelling to places like India when they want to pay for private healthcare. Yes some people from the UK do travel abroad when they want private healthcare, and while some do travel to the US, most do not.





But for those here who think that the US system is great, just remember this, you pay more per person for your system, and the US gets to have worse healthcare outcomes than in Western Europe with its 'evil socialist' universal healthcare systems. Infant mortality is higher, and life expectany is lower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care... So, while there are problems with our system in the UK, I would rather have our system than yours.





One day, when Americans realise they pay more to let babies die that would have a better chance if born in Western Europe, they might want a universal healthcare system as well.
Reply:they work for less money.