| View unanswered posts | View active topics |
It is currently Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:03 am |
|
All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ] |
BajaGay.com | Promote Your Page Too
 
|
Page 1 of 1 |
[ 6 posts ] |
| Print view | Previous topic | Next topic |
Healthcare In Mexico
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
|
Site Admin  Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX 
|
 Healthcare In MexicoMedicare In Mexico
(FORBES.com)WASHINGTON - The U.S. government should pick up the cost of health care for the elderly Americans living in Mexico. That's the gist of a new lobbying effort aimed at pushing Washington into covering foreign medical expenses for the first time via its sprawling Medicare programs. There are over 1 million U.S. citizens living south of the border, many of them retirees. The government's current position is that retired citizens cannot claim benefits for medical treatments received overseas, even if they paid into the Medicare system during their working lives. The U.S. government is worried that creating a Mexican Medicare exemption might be too complicated and costly to implement and would open the door for Americans in countries as far afield as Poland and Thailand to press for similar benefits, according to David Warner, a professor of health care policy at the University of Texas at Austin and a specialist on Medicare in Mexico. Paul Crist, a former aid to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., now running a hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, isn't buying it. Last March, Crist founded the non-profit Americans For Medicare In Mexico. The American businessman has since lobbied 85 members in the U.S. Congress to get Medicare accepted south of the border. It is Mexico's unique proximity to America that makes the whole process economically viable, he says. The current inflexible Medicare benefits system is the reason why 64% of retired Americans in Mexico currently return to the U.S. for medical treatment; the remaining U.S. retirees are getting treated in Mexico but picking up the costs themselves. They can pay out-of-pocket because "health care is extremely affordable in Mexico with or without health insurance," as are "comprehensive private insurance policies," according to MedToGo.com, a Web site owned and operated by U.S. physicians. An office visit to a doctor in a Mexican city typically runs between $30 and $40, according to MedToGo, while a hospital room costs $90 to $100 a night. Besides private health care insurance, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (which goes by the Spanish initials IMSS) provides affordable, if basic, health insurance for all Mexican residents, regardless of nationality. Studies suggest that health care services are 70% less expensive in Mexico than in the U.S. If Medicare were accepted in Mexico, the 64% of American retirees currently flying back to the U.S. for expensive care would instead opt for treatment nearer their homes, cutting Medicare's overall costs by a minimum of 22% net, Crist figures. The Mexican government, hoping to lure more retirees from the U.S., including those born in Mexico, is largely open to accepting Medicare, says Professor Warner. So is the U.S. Congress, claims Crist. "Response has been quite positive, especially on the House side," he says. But the offices of Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and other sympathetic legislators have also told Crist that this year they have too much on their plate, and that it would be politically wiser to introduce a stand-alone Mexico-Medicare bill next year, separate from the complex health care reform package currently working its way through Capitol Hill. Professor Warner, who also supports the granting of Medicare coverage in Mexico, says an in-depth three-year Mexico-Medicare pilot project is needed to better understand the economics, determine whether Mexican health care meets Medicare's quality standards and determine if the payment system is sufficiently free of fraud. "I don't think it need be a big deal," he adds. "The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services -- http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ -- is taking the position that Congress has to give it [a special] waiver to pay overseas. But this does not require a large appropriation of money. If any." While AARP, the retiree interest group, has yet to take a position and did not respond to Forbes' request for comment, Crist's lobbying efforts appear to be picking up support, including from real estate developers hoping to build assisted-living villages for American retirees in Mexico and influential lobbying groups, including the Association of Americans Resident Overseas. http://aaro.org/ The association and others are instructing members to send letters to their congressional representatives, urging that at minimum a demonstration project be undertaken to study the consequences of accepting Medicare benefits in Mexico. "As an American who has worked outside the USA, I will be eligible for Medicare benefits, having paid for them during my working life. Because I live outside the USA, however, I will not be able to receive these benefits in the country where I live," one letter from the AARO states. In a year when U.S. politicians have been battered by constituents' claims that the U.S. government is trying to take away their medical choices, a potentially cost-saving pilot allowing for more choice in Medicare seems, on the surface, a political slam-dunk. It would also help ease immigration pressure: Long-term U.S. residents who were born in Mexico, and are interested in returning when they retire, would no longer be reluctant to do so for fear of losing their Medicare benefits. Last edited by Kenito on Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total. |
| Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:02 pm |
|
|
|
|
Site Admin Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX
|
Re: Medicare In Mexico Americans for Medicare in Mexico, A.C. (AMMAC) was founded and to date has been principally funded by Paul Crist.
The owner and manager of Hotel Mercurio in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Crist is a person with wide interests and broad experience. He holds degrees in Architecture and Political Science, and a Master's degree in International Economics. Prior to Puerto Vallarta, he lived for many years in Washington, DC, where he owned several businesses, including a residential design and construction firm specializing in historic preservation and restoration, and a retail garden center. He worked for a number of years as a Legislative Aide for Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), and subsequently as an economist in private energy project consulting. "And I'm still wondering what I'll do when I grow up." Crist jokes. As an economist, he traveled extensively and worked on large electric power projects in the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. He first vacationed in Puerto Vallarta in 1992, and it became an annual visit thanks to its natural beauty and friendly sense of community. In 2002, almost on a whim, he purchased a 28-room hotel property there, left his consulting job, and moved to Puerto Vallarta. It was also in 2002 that Paul met his life partner, Luis Tello, a Mexican citizen and lifelong resident of Puerto Vallarta. The couple was legally married on Cape Cod in Massachusetts in 2007, with both Paul's and Luis' families present. Paul has been involved in the fight to confront the AIDS epidemic since the late 1980's. He was partnered at that time with an HIV physician, since deceased, who worked as Medical Director of a large Washington HIV clinic. He became a major fundraiser for the clinic, and served on its board of directors in the 1990's. The illness and subsequent death of a valued employee at his hotel alerted Paul to the problem of HIV in Puerto Vallarta. He began supporting the local fight against HIV in memory of both his former partner, who passed away from a heart attack in 2001, and his employee at the hotel, who died from complications from AIDS in 2004. In 2007, Paul and a small group of Mexican activists founded Vallarta Enfrenta el SIDA, A.C. (VES) (Vallarta Confronts AIDS, in English). VES is a partner with the local HIV clinic, a pilot project including VES, AIDS Healthcare Foundation of Los Angeles, the Jalisco state government, and the Mexican federal government. By contract, VES provides funding assistance for medical care, and pays salaries for the clinic's HIV counseling staff. VES also has an active outreach, education, and free HIV testing program that focuses on marginal and vulnerable communities in the region, operated by paid staff and volunteers. The organization is funded via donations and fundraising events, as well as grants from government and private sources. Crist continues to be a major donor. Crist has had a lifelong interest in politics and public policy. Republican in his younger years and despite a conservative economics program taught at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies where he received his Master's degree, his views have shifted to the left over the years, as he has seen the failings of classical economic theories in practice. Crist explains, "The economic principles taught to economics students are correct and useful as far as they go, but societies have other objectives and needs than aggregate economic growth and low inflation. Economic growth isn't of much use if it only enriches a small segment of society that's already rich. And there are certain economic sectors, health care being one, the so-called "labor market" being another, where markets really don't work very well at all. I reject the claim that we have "choice" in the free market, loosely regulated health insurance industry in the US, for example. We have the choice to buy medical coverage that is decided by our employers and varies minimally among insurers in the business of putting a price tag on the value of human life." "For capitalism to work for the benefit of all, we need to accept that planning and regulation are not dirty words that are necessarily associated with communism or socialism; that for those to whom much is given, much should be expected (including progressive tax policies that adequately fund our society's objectives and that provide opportunity for those with the least); and we need to discard the notion that "freedom" means the freedom to shop for an endless array things to buy at cheap prices that neither reflect the externalities of production nor provide the makers with a decent wage. Freedom is something else entirely." Crist became active in Democratic politics in the late 1980's, and volunteered in both of the (Bill) Clinton campaigns. He was also a major fundraiser for All Gore in 2000. He was first a volunteer, then a paid staff member for Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) in the early 1990's. When the Democrats Abroad (the international arm of the Democratic Party) formed a local chapter in Puerto Vallarta, Paul jumped in. He currently serves on the local Executive Committee, as Media Chair of the Mexico Democrats Abroad - Costa Banderas Chapter; is the Editor of the Democrats Abroad Mexico Newsletter/Journal; and in 2009, he was elected to serve as Treasurer for the Democrats Abroad Mexico Country Executive Committee. Democrats Abroad facilitates voting and political participation for Americans living outside the U.S., and lobbies issues of interest to expatriates. Paul's interest in the issue of Medicare for eligible seniors living in Mexico began only recently. As part of the Democrats Abroad Mexico Annual General Meeting, held in Puerto Vallarta in March, Paul and the local committee organized a series of conferences on topics of interest to the membership. The conference on Medicare and healthcare issues turned out to be the highlight of the weekend, drawing a large crowd. Crist moderated the conference, which featured a panel of invited health policy experts, an economist from the Mexican Ministry of Finance, and the director of a major progressive lobbying organization in Washington, DC. The lack of access to Medicare services for seniors in Mexico essentially became the sole focus of the conference, which included an extended period of audience interaction. As with previous issues where Paul saw a need, he jumped in and began studying and researching the issue. He made trips to DC to seek input from health policy professionals and Congressional staffers specializing in health care and Medicare. He studied the legislation relevant to the topic. He consulted private sector health administrators. His experience with politics and campaigns, as well as in private business, inform his strategic approach to the current effort to win Congressional authorization for Medicare in Mexico. "First you do your homework, to make sure what you want to accomplish is reasonable and possible. If it is, then you find the money and resources to get the job done. Next you deploy those resources to mobilize support and put a management structure in place that will ensure success." An avid writer and researcher on economic, public policy and healthcare issues, his articles in both Spanish and English are frequently published in Puerto Vallarta and various U.S. newspaper editorial pages. Paul travels frequently both nationally and internationally. He maintains homes in Washington, DC and Puerto Vallarta. He is fluent in Spanish. |
| Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:31 pm |
|
|
|
|
Site Admin Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX
|
Re: Medicare In Mexico Americans for Medicare in Mexico, A.C. (AMMAC)
It is NOT the aim of Americans for Medicare in Mexico, A.C. (AMMAC) to advocate for wholesale changes or restructuring of Medicare administration. There are reasonable arguments that major changes are called for. It seems likely that changes are coming, as there is significant support in Congress for addressing the many criticisms of the program. But AMMAC is currently focused squarely on the issue of bringing Medicare benefits to eligible seniors in Mexico. To broaden our mandate would dilute our message, and make success of our central goal much less likely. Senators and leading health care experts say that Medicare will become the test lab for changes aimed at making the overall health care system less wasteful. That may sound more than a little counterintuitive. The fraud and waste in the Medicare Program are legendary. But what is less understood is that in many instances, it is Medicare's use of private entities, and under funding for administrative oversight that are at the root of this problem. One example involves the relatively new Medicare Part D, a $60 billion prescription drug coverage program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which supervises the program, contracts with private insurance companies to provide the drug coverage. In January 2009, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) wrote to Medicare administrators, after learning a large majority of the insurance companies participating in the program owed Medicare about $4.6 billion for 2006 alone. As a result of insurer "errors", some beneficiaries had been overcharged. The inspector general for the Department of Health & Human Services, which oversees Medicare, reported that the overcharges were due to mistakes in the bids that insurance companies submit to Medicare to participate in the drug program. Those bids represent estimates of how much revenue the companies would need monthly to provide the basic drug benefit. Medicare is supposed to audit those bids, but the agency is behind in the audits. At a Senate hearing in late April, it was revealed that a quarter of all the bids for 2006 and 2007 contained "mistakes" that led to higher profits for the insurance companies, and higher costs for subscribers. Congress is considering significant changes to Medicare administration, which will hopefully address these types of issues. It is clear that the complex system, under-resourced in the area of auditing and administration, has become an invitation to private contractors to pad their bottom lines, with the knowledge that they are unlikely to be caught. One new approach being proposed for Medicare will stress closer follow-up care by doctors and nurses. It is hoped this will keep chronically ill patients from having to be hospitalized repeatedly. According to a large study, one in five Medicare patients must return to the hospital within a month of discharge. This costs billions of dollars a year, and results in poor health outcomes for seniors. The findings suggest patients aren't told enough about how to take care of themselves and stay healthy before they go home. A few simple things -- like making a doctor's appointment for departing patients -- can help. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana says that Medicare is going to be "the driver" for quality improvements throughout the health care system because private insurers follow Medicare policies. Baucus is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which began work on Tuesday on a bill to cover the uninsured and to restrain health care costs. Thus far, it is not clear that Sen. Baucus will be supporting a public option that Americans could buy into to cover health expenses. And even if a public option is approved, it may still operate through private contractors, as Medicare does. What does seem clear from the Baucus plan is that Medicare will still operate by contracting with private entities. Since the beginning of the Medicare program, CMS has contracted with private companies to operate as intermediaries between the government and medical providers. These contractors are commonly already in the insurance or health care area. Contracted processes include claims and payment processing, call center services, clinician enrollment, and fraud investigation. Our discussions with Members of Congress, as well as with health policy experts and Medicare administrators, makes it clear that any Demonstration Project in Mexico will necessarily be administered under the same general rules as Medicare operates under in the U.S. As a result of extensive meetings in Washington DC during March and April of 2009, AMMAC determined it would be counterproductive to seek a waiver of the general manner under which Medicare is administered. What does all this mean for Medicare beneficiaries in Mexico, and for the cost of health care services? Medicare will not agree - ever - to pay Mexican health care providers directly. This would be both politically impossible and administratively complicated due to: Language differences; Currency differences; Certification oversight for Mexican providers; and Managing fraud & abuse in a foreign country. Thus, an intermediary will be required to manage the program in Mexico. Medicare will not agree to reimburse beneficiaries directly for expenses paid out-of-pocket. It would be impossible to control for fraud & abuse under this scenario. Tricare for Life/Tricare Overseas Program operates in this manner. That program covers health care expenses for military retirees and their spouses who live outside the U.S., but in Mexico, it is a very small program. Tricare reimburses between 500 and 700 claims per year in Mexico, with an average claim of about US$2,100. For a small program, the cost of developing and administering a fraud control program might cost more than it saves. For a Medicare Demonstration Project that covers perhaps 20,000 beneficiaries or more, controlling for fraud will be a program requirement. Health care providers that participate in the Demonstration Project may incur increased costs. This is because Medicare will only agree to work with providers that are certified, either by the Joint Commission International (JCI); Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO); or at least by the Comisión Nacional de Certificación de Hospitales (Mexican certification). This is perhaps the strongest argument AGAINST bringing Medicare to Mexico. But the following facts mitigate the force of arguments against the program: Many Mexican hospitals and clinics are already working toward certification. This is largely being undertaken in order to compete for the lucrative medical tourism market, which comes mainly from the U.S. India, Singapore, Thailand, and Brazil currently have more certified health care providers, and more hospital beds per capita than does Mexico. These countries are aggressively pursuing medical tourism, and have health care costs roughly similar to Mexico, even with higher certification rates. Geographically, Mexico has an advantage in attracting medical tourist patients from the U.S., but needs to catch up in both quality and quantity of services. The Mexican healthcare industry is aggressively working to close these gaps. The Mexican Secretary of Health has set a goal that 80% of both IMSS and ISSTE hospitals (the public health system hospitals in Mexico) will be certified by 2012. This effort has been ongoing for the past 10 years. Currently about 45% of public hospitals are accredited under the Mexican system, and the next steps include plans for international certification of some public hospitals. The momentum toward certification of public hospitals is also pushing private institutions to get certified, as a means of competing for both national and international patients. In 2009, five private hospitals have achieved certification from JCI, and more are coming. That means that one of the key requirements for Medicare participation is occurring anyway. Bringing Medicare to Mexico will only encourage adoption of reforms already underway in the Mexican health care system. Link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States) |
| Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:36 pm |
|
|
|
|
Site Admin Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX
|
Re: Medicare In Mexico U.S. Seniors Opt for Mexican Healthcare
Wednesday, 02 September 2009 "Mexicare: $250 a year covers it all" declared the Arizona Republic website headline on August 29. The Mexican Social Security Institute, known as IMSS, provides healthcare with no limits and no deductibles for $250 or less per year, and American seniors are heading south of the border to take advantage while it lasts. At a time when Americans are engaged in heated debate about healthcare reform here at home, thousands of U.S. retirees have quietly swam against the tide of illegal immigrants entering the United States from Mexico. These older Americans have taken up residence in Mexico so that they may obtain medical treatment at IMSS facilities. "It was one of the primary reasons I moved here," said Judy Harvey, formerly of Prescott Valley but now residing in Alamos, Sonora. "I couldn't afford health care in the United States.... To me, this is the best system that there is." She enjoys complete medical care — from checkups, eyeglasses, and dental work all the way to surgery — with no deductibles, free medicine from IMSS pharmacies, and sometimes transportation in IMSS ambulances. The Arizona Republic reports that "IMSS is the biggest of several government-run medical systems in Mexico. It operates 1,507 clinics and 264 hospitals across Mexico, and foreigners living here legally are welcome to enroll. The annual membership ranges from $95 for someone younger than 19 to $250 for people older than 60." To become a member, an American senior has only to meet certain residency requirements, supply a visa and a birth certificate, answer a health questionnaire, possibly undergo an examination, and pay the $250 fee. Jessica Moyal left Hollywood, Florida, for San Miguel de Allende, a popular destination for American retirees. She is married, and the couple has private insurance, but while they had first thought to use IMSS as a backup plan, they now use it routinely for their common care needs. "They take very good care of us," Moyal affirms. But Moyal, Harvey, and other seniors have had to put up with numerous tradeoffs to obtain mostly free care. Some are surprisingly basic, such as a hospital that requires patients to bring their own pillows. Other hospitals might have no television or radio in the rooms for entertainment, and others skimp by not including rehabilitative therapy after an operation. The Arizona Republic presented a list of the most common downsides in bullet form: • IMSS will not cover pre-existing conditions for two years. IMSS pharmacies stock mostly generics; newer, name-brand drugs are not included. • Most doctors and nurses speak only Spanish. • Clinics may not have the latest equipment. Patients may have to travel to a larger hospital for some tests, such as ultrasounds. • Mexican hospitals traditionally require patients to have a family member present 24 hours a day to help with changing sheets, monitoring IV drips, feeding and other tasks. Private rooms are rare. Something the American seniors may not realize is that as more of them take advantage of the socialized healthcare available in Mexico, they put a strain on IMSS that resembles the burden millions of illegal Mexican immigrants are putting on the U.S. health system. IMSS is already widely known for losing money, and as more foreigners who have only paid into the system for a few years start obtaining the higher degree of care that is common for the elderly, things can only get worse. "If they started flooding down here for this, it wouldn't be sustainable," said Javier Lopez Ortiz, IMSS director in San Miguel de Allende. Unemployment in Mexico has reduced contributions to the system, and IMSS has been using emergency funds to stay afloat. It should also be mentioned that the millions of Mexicans who are in the United States illegally are presumably no longer paying into the system, unless perhaps they are supporting relatives back home. The biggest expense for IMSS is pensions, but the insurance program that covers foreign retirees as well as Mexicans "has seen its deficit grow at an average 24 percent annually since 2001, to more than $318 million in 2008," the Arizona Republic noted. An IMSS report said the program "is notorious for its insufficiency of funds," and warned that "the urgency of reviewing the amount and structure of the fees charged for this voluntary insurance is clear." Ironically, some Mexicans now experience resentment similar to what many Americans feel about illegal immigrants. "It doesn't seem fair," said Roberto Meléndez while waiting for a relative outside a clinic in San Miguel de Allende. "These people can afford private hospitals. Why do they want to come here?" Of course, the response of the American seniors is reminiscent of what illegal immigrants say about coming to America. "If someone takes offense at us coming down and using IMSS, then I'm sorry," said Don Lott, a 71-year-old from Dallas who underwent a hernia operation in Guadalajara. "But I think on the whole, we're a benefit to the country." Now the shoe is on the other foot, and Mexico gets a taste of its own medicine. How strange that Americans think it is worth moving to Mexico to get cheap healthcare, while Mexicans believe it is worth all the risks they take to enter America so they can obtain free emergency-room treatment at U.S. hospitals. One obvious difference is that the Americans moving south are retirees who have income, even if they are no longer working. Illegal immigrants to America are probably trying to escape the low wages and unemployment in Mexico, and far too many U.S. firms are willing to take advantage of the situation by offering them low-wage jobs. For the majority of Americans whose idea of healthcare reform does not include moving to Mexico, a lesson can be learned. There are no free rides. The Mexican government is going broke propping up its socialized medicine system. America is already trillions of dollars in debt, with an annual deficit exceeding $1 trillion; we can't afford to follow Mexico's example. President Obama is on record as favoring a single-payer system similar to Mexico's. But no matter how the president tries to disguise it as a voluntary public insurance option, his reform proposals would lead to socialized medical, and socialized medicine would drive America into the poor house just like it is bankrupting Mexico. |
| Sun Sep 06, 2009 1:36 pm |
|
|
|
|
Site Admin Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX
|
Re: Healthcare In Mexico Thinking about assisted living for a loved one? Consider Baja. You may contact Kenito for additional information.
Serena Senior Care (661) 612 9090 & 92 M.X. 01800 030 0070 U.S. 1877 030 0070 New! Casa Harmony Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AodkTU69M0 http://www.serenafullassistance.com http://www.serenaseniorcare.com |
| Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:30 pm |
|
|
|
|
Site Admin Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:30 am Posts: 648 Location: Rosarito, Baja California, MX
|
Re: Healthcare In Mexico Baja business groups launch medical tourism campaigns
Darrell Gellner of Saskatchewan, Canada , is wheeled into Hospital Angeles in Tijuana by brother-in-law Maurice Kovatch and greeted by hospital administrator Carlos Zavala on Monday. The hospital caters to medical tourists seeking lower cost procedures or treatments that aren’t performed in their home countries. For decades, U.S. residents have crossed the border in search of cheap dentistry, alternative health care and pharmacies providing easy access to prescription drugs. Now, health providers in Tijuana say they have much more to offer in the way of sophisticated medical office procedures and hospital care, and have created business groups aimed at getting that word out to U.S. consumers. “In the past, the focus was on low cost. But in the last five years, doctors have been offering more complex treatments, hiring more bilingual personnel and doing more professional marketing,” said Flavio Olivieri, executive director of the Tijuana Industrial and Economic Development Corp. and cofounder of the Tijuana Medical Tourism Association. The biggest draw still is low cost, medical tourism experts said, with fees for services such as dentistry, laser eye surgery, plastic surgery, cancer treatment and bariatric weight-loss procedures generally running 40 percent to 70 percent lower than in the U.S. Dental implants that may cost $2,800 north of the border can be as low as $800 in Mexico, while a $50,000 hip replacement in the U.S. could run $13,000 down south. Olivieri said the marketing campaign is critical in helping Tijuana recover from a drastic drop in cross-border visitors. Long waits into and out of Mexico have traditionally been a problem, but crossings plunged in 2008 with the recession and a surge in drug-related violence in the Tijuana region, followed in 2009 by travel warnings when the H1N1 flu proved deadly in central Mexico. “The market shrank overnight,” said Olivieri, a speaker on medical tourism Monday at Tijuana Innovadora, a two-week, $5 million conference aimed at boosting the international profile and economic clout of one of Mexico’s largest metropolitan areas. Today, the flu is a vague memory and perception of Tijuana as a violent city held hostage by warring drug gangs is beginning to wane. Homicides dropped from a high of 844 killings in 2008 to 664 in 2009 and 638 as of last week, in part because of a coordinated crackdown by military and civilian authorities. According to the Baja California Secretary of Tourism, about 250,000 people a month visit Tijuana for health products and medical services, most of them Californians. Roughly 60 percent are Hispanics living in the U.S. The next largest group is people seeking alternative medical treatments, followed by “Anglo middle-income Americans” wanting high-quality yet low-cost care. It’s the last segment that Mexican government and business groups are targeting, with the hope that more multi-day medical visitors will fuel the local economy. The Baja tourism office, the Tijuana Convention and Visitors Bureau, and new medical tourism business groups in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada are working on promotional strategies. “The expectation is that medical tourism is one of the most promising sectors in Baja California,” said Patrick Osio, vice president of the Baja California Medical Tourism Association, a San Diego-based nonprofit that promotes south-of-the-border medical services to Southern Californians. “(Practitioners) just haven’t known how to promote themselves.” The 119-bed private Hospital Angeles focused on just such medical tourists when it opened in 2004, said business development director Carlos Zavala. The facility offers private rooms, a medical fitness center, an auditorium and gardens. Seventy-five percent of patients came from the U.S. until more local people learned about the hospital, Zavala said. The numbers of U.S. inpatients has held steady at 100 to 150 per month, he said. Most foreigners come for weight-loss surgeries — lap band, gastric bypass or gastric sleeve — although they also come for orthopedic, neurological and cardiac procedures. The hospital is certified by the Mexican General Board of Health, and Zavala said it is seeking to raise its international standing by applying for accreditation from Joint Commission International, a branch of the Joint Commission, the largest hospital accreditation program in the U.S. The hospital has gotten some foreign patients through medical tourism companies and has now formed its own company to offer travel, accommodations and other services to foreign patients. Wouter Hoeberechts, chief executive of medical tourism company WorldMed Assist in Concord, said people often feel trepidation about the quality of care in foreign countries. He said he sends many patients to Hospital Angeles and Excel Heart Center in Tijuana. “Part of our service is that we’ve personally visited each hospital, looked at hospital outcome data and physician outcome data,” Hoeberechts said. “We select the best of the best.” Olivieri and others agreed that quality concerns need to be addressed, although exactly how is unclear. The Tijuana Medical Tourism Association may start collecting licensing and certification information on practitioners to give tourists, Olivieri said. Related to quality concerns is that few U.S. insurance companies offer coverage in Mexico. Since insurers do their own quality assessments, coverage provides reassurance to both insured and cash patients. Blue Shield, Health Net and Aetna all offer plans to California companies whose employees want to cross the border for health care. Health Net and Aetna contract with the Mexican health insurance company SIMNSA for their HMO plan. Coverage generally is restricted to providers in Mexican border cities. Delta Dental Insurance also provides coverage in the border region. Dr. Juan Pablo Eng said gaining insurance coverage has made a tremendous difference in his DentiCenter practice. Eng opened his first dental office in Tijuana in 1991 to serve cross-border patients exclusively. Born and raised in Mexico, Eng is a University of Southern California-trained periodontist and a U.S. citizen living in Chula Vista. “The biggest challenge in the beginning years was the lack of trust with insurance companies,” he said. Four years ago, Delta Dental and Aetna began offering plans with DentiCenter. Eng now has offices along the border from Tijuana to Reynosa, near the Gulf of Mexico. Eng said his formula is to provide affordable, U.S.-style care within a short walking distance from a border crossing. He also offers packages that include transportation, hotel stay and other services. “You have to have all the components in place to be successful,” he said, “and consistency is a must to keep the confidence of your patients.” |
| Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:04 pm |
|
|
|
Page 1 of 1 |
[ 6 posts ] |
|
All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ] |
Who is online |
Registered users: No registered users |
| You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum |