It's really an intersting dynamic for me, how I read a post and it prompts another, and many times my post is received better then the posts that originate without the influence of others.  But we shall see.  My post today was prompted by this one here,

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/noblecommentdecider/2009/07/gun-toting-nra-supporter-disar.php?ref=reccafe  One good post deserves another.

It occured to me that this phrase, medical tourism, is so quaint that it has gone virtually unmentioned until today.  It came about because one of these "tourists" brought a gun with him for protection when he went to India to get a hip replacement.  He brought a gun to India!!!  Clearly this fool has lost the perspective that most human beings on this planet abhor weapons.  Yes, we read about a terrorist incident in India and it scares us, but there are a billion unarmed people there we do not mention.  So all we know about India is this one incident.  We need to take the time to know more about India then that this incident occurred.  Seriously, there's more to life then running terrified of shadows hiding a weapon just in case.  But that issue is for the above-referenced post.  I recommend you read that too.  This post is about medical tourism.

Medical tourism sounds so adventurous and pleasant.  It suggests an exploration of a foreign land and gathering a trinket to help us later to remember the trip.  Going to India one might think of bringing home a plastic Taj Mahal, or a hand carved tiger.  One might also think of the great meals: curries; tandoori chickens: and lhassis.  Not to mention the weather.  I hear it gets pretty hot in some places.  Then there are all the cultural influences to experience seeing people in their native clothes, unless they caught the American bug of course and wear jeans and a T-shirt.  {Oh, how rich we are as a culture.  A T-shirt and jeans, and perhaps a baseball cap.  No, I don't think people come to the US to experience our culture.  Frankly, it seems they enjoy our seemingly endless nature, particularly attractive to Europeans who have so little left.}

A real expression for these travelling people might be more serious.  How about medical refugees?  Financially oppressed people who could not bear the outrageous costs of our medical system.   It might suggest other experiences then the ones above-mentioned.  For instance, there is no exploration of the land, there is a visit to a hospital to explore it's barren hallways filled with gurneys, wheelchairs, and the infirm.  Great meals?  Hospital food, you mean?  Oh, the only time hospital food motivates people to move is motivating them to leave the hospital, or to smuggle in something from outside.  As for the weather, the hospital probably has a climate-controlled environment.  It will probably feel a lot like hospitals here, except that sucking sound is less severe around our wallets, or purses.  Finally, the clothes.  There is nothing ethnic to a hospital gown.  The flap at the back is a stark reminder of the frailty of our humanity.  For as revealing as those gowns may be, there is nothing seductive about them.  It's quite the opposite really.  A souvenir, a trinket?  It's an artificial hip.

So let's get real.  There are no medical tourists, only medical refugees, and the UN is not going to do anything about them.  It is up to us, because evidently, the politiciamns are not about to do anything about them either.  The practice of medical refugees is becoming quite common, but there are no real numbers to quantify how prevalent this has become.  What would the medical industry do if they knew how many dollars were going elsewhere?  {How I loathe the fact that we have come to accept that our health has become a commodity.}   Well, if Bush were in charge he would put a stop to it, the same way he prevented people from getting prescriptions filled in Canada.

It's really disappointing that this nation appears so ignorant of the battle taking place in the halls of Congress as I write this.  We have a chance to radically transform our healthcare system.  We have several examples of vibrant industrialized countries that have single-payer systems.  We are talking about our future, the personal future of each and every one of us, as we age and endure our diminished vitality.  We will all want to be as comfortable as we can, living as well as we can, but this present system is failing so many.  The only ones who benefit are shareholders in an industry that exploits the misfortune of people who are sick or have been injured.  We can change this.  We can do it now.  Repeat after me, YES WE CAN and don't let anyone tell you any option is off the table.  YES WE CAN.  Stop the exodus. Good healthcare begins at home.