Hips abroad: medical outsourcing.

• Author: Bailey, Ronald
• Position: Citings - Brief article

LAST FALL osteoarthritis patient Adrienne de Forrest of Colorado had her hip resurfaced in Chennai, India, by orthopedic surgeon Vij ay Bose. Texas contractor David Jones had triple heart bypass surgery in New Delhi. Both surgeries for the uninsured Americans were arranged by the Massachusetts-based medical tourism company Healthbase.

De Forrest's surgery cost $8,000, and Jones paid $16,000 including travel. In the U.S., where a host of regulatory distortions have raised the price of health care, De Forrest would have paid about $45,00% and Jones' bill could have been as high as $250,000.

The uninsured are not the only Americans going abroad. The Mumbai-based PlanetHospital is now offering surrogacy services for gay couples. In November the health insurer Wellpoint launched a pilot program in which patients who choose elective surgery in India pay no out-of-pocket medical costs and...