Have you ever wondered what a trip to Central America might be like? On a motorcycle? For dental care?! BridgeHealth International client Doug French tells his two-wheeled story on his blog: “About four years ago I went to a dentist in the states with the idea that after years of either neglect or simply not having the money or insurance to keep up on my teeth, I was going to do what ever it took to get them up to where they needed to be. I was working on a very good case of periodonta... Read Full Story

December 15th, 2008 by wgarin Have you ever wondered what a trip to Central America might be like? On a motorcycle? For dental care?! BridgeHealth International client Doug French tells his two-wheeled story on his blog: “About four years ago I went to a dentist in the states with the idea that after years of either neglect or simply not having the money or insurance to keep up on my teeth, I was going to do what ever it took to get them up to where they needed to be. I was working ... Read Full Story

One of the biggest concerns that both insurers and potential medical travelers have about going abroad for health care has to do not with going out of the country, but with care locally, in the United States. Who will make sure a prospective medical tourist is fit for travel and an appropriate patient for a chosen destination? Who will care for the patient postoperatively when he or she returns home? Read Full Story

In yesterday’s interview with Dr. Miguel Alfaro of Costa Rica, he candidly noted that the number of plastic surgery patients coming to Costa Rica from outside the country is down by perhaps 15-20 percent in 2008. This should surprise no one, given the state of the economy in the United States. In fact, Costa Rican plastic and cosmetic surgeons are probably weathering the economic slowdown better than are their higher priced counterparts in the U.S. The American Society of Plastic Surgeo... Read Full Story

September 9th, 2008 by -- the moderator In yesterday’s interview with Dr. Miguel Alfaro of Costa Rica, he candidly noted that the number of plastic surgery patients coming to Costa Rica from outside the country is down by perhaps 15-20 percent in 2008. This should surprise no one, given the state of the economy in the United States. In fact, Costa Rican plastic and cosmetic surgeons are probably weathering the economic slowdown better than are their higher priced counterparts in the... Read Full Story

Costa Rica was among the first well-known destinations for modern medical travel, dating back to the 1970s and early 1980s when some pioneering plastic surgeons and dentists first began serving international clients. Among them was Dr. Miguel Alfaro, who, like many Costa Rican surgeons, came to medical school in the United States and was trained in general and plastic surgery at the University of Colorado; the University of Missouri and the University of Michigan. He returned to Costa Rica in... Read Full Story

It should not surprise anyone that there is no mention of medical travel and tourism in the platform of either the Republican or Democratic parties. However, it’s lurking beneath the surface. GOP candidate John McCain’s healthcare policies and positions would encourage Americans to take greater individual responsibility for their healthcare choices. Health benefits would no longer be treated as tax-free income; instead, individuals and families would get substantial tax credits f... Read Full Story

September 4th, 2008 by -- the moderator It should not surprise anyone that there is no mention of medical travel and tourism in the platform of either the Republican or Democratic parties. However, it’s lurking beneath the surface. GOP candidate John McCain’s healthcare policies and positions would encourage Americans to take greater individual responsibility for their healthcare choices. Health benefits would no longer be treated as tax-free income; instead, individuals and f... Read Full Story

Syndicated columnist Froma Harrop of The Providence Journal in Rhode Island writes about the “good and bad” of medical tourism in a piece that has appeared in newspapers from coast to coast over the past few days (including in The Seattle Times: Medicine through the back door.) Harrop fancies herself something of a pioneer as a medical tourist, having had Lasik ™ eye surgery in Toronto in 2000, paying about a quarter of what she would have in the United States, saving $3,000... Read Full Story

August 18th, 2008 by -- the moderator The Bridge is in good company this week, in bouncing off Robin Cook’s medical thriller “Foreign Body.” The Economist led off its own lengthy feature about medical tourism with a reference to the novel, also. … Central to the plot is the story of Maria Hernandez, a working-class American woman who travels to Delhi to get a hip replacement she could not afford back home. Alas, she and other medical tourists die in mysterious circ... Read Full Story