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Why Is Medical Tourism Becoming An Option For So Many?

- An estimated 46 million Americans (one in six people) have no health insurance.

- At least 29 million Americans are in medical debt, according to Jennifer Edwards of the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports research on health and social issues.

- Over 108 million people in the U.S. lack dental insurance.

- Best-selling health author Paul Z.Pilzer states that only 61% of full-time jobs in America offer health insurance benefits, an 8% decrease from three years ago.

- Two million Americans carry only high-deductible medical insurance.

- A 2005 Harvard University study shows that half of the two million annual bankruptcy filings in the United States are medical expense related. Thus, overwhelming medical costs contribute to one million annual bankruptcies in the U.S., even as insured Americans pay rising out-of-pocket medical expenses.

- In the U.S.A., health-related spending rose 7.6% to $1.68 trillion in 2003, consuming close to 15.3% of the $11 trillion gross domestic product.

- It was the fifth consecutive year that the cost of medical care increased faster than the economy, reported the Baltimore-based Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

- U.S. employer-paid health insurance premiums have soared 59% since 2000, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, nonprofit groups which study medical care.

- In 2004, annual medical insurance premiums averaged $9,950 for families of four and $3,695 for individuals, the groups found.

- Though the U.S.A. spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other country and has the latest medical technology, American healthcare lags behind that of most European countries in several categories.

- According to the 2003 Health of Nations Global League Table, all of the top ten high-ranking countries in medical care are European nations. The United States ranks 17th on the list, after Israel.

- Medical procedures in Germany can cost from 40% to 80% less than comparable surgery in the United States.

- An estimated 7.5 million unnecessary medical and surgical procedures recommended by U.S. physicians are performed yearly, writes Gary Null, Ph.D. A 1995 report by Milliman and Robertson, Inc. further concludes that nearly 60% of all surgeries done in America are medically unnecessary.