[m101]

Sounds like people should take some time off work and fly to Thailand for treatment. Any reason why there isn't more medical tourism?

They do this in the UK for getting dental treatment in Eastern Europe where fillings can cost €20 each.

[javajosh]

Well, one reason people don't become medical tourists are concerns about quality. Americans in particular are still convinced, despite ample evidence to the contrary, that our medical system is the highest quality in the world - and that this justifies the costs.

I believe this is false. Healthcare quality is basically the same in all first-world countries, the only difference is cost structure. (My wife had a c-section in Germany and our total cost was about 100 euros for an optional private room.)

[chronial]

> Healthcare quality is basically the same in all first-world countries

While this statement is correct, my understanding is that there are still small quality differences, and the US is in fact the word leader in quality. Thinking about it, this also makes sense – if you are willing to pay extreme amounts to doctors, you should also see at least some improvements in quality.

But we are talking something like <1% better quality for +100% the cost, so this is clearly not worth it. But if I was a billionaire with a difficult disease, I would definitely at least consider going to the US for treatment.