Despite
safety concerns in a few border towns, Mexico continues to see a boom
with Americans seeking low price surgery or dental and cosmetic
treatment. There is nowhere else in the world where millions of
Americans have access to hundreds of hospitals and clinics where they
can drive there and back in one day. Although the Peso is the official
currency of Mexico, US dollars are also widely accepted.
The Mexican border town of Mexicali is making a push for more
tourists from the American Southwest to visit the city's dentists,
surgeons and doctors. Medical tourists from the USA with the right
documents can skip much of the wait on the Mexican side of the border by
using a new designated medical tourism lane. Mexicali’s tourism
director Omar Dipp, says the new lane is one part of the city's plan to
boost medical tourism by 50%, "You can now drive to Mexicali, take care
of your health, and only take 20 minutes to cross the border instead of
two hours."
American patients must request a pass from Mexican doctors who are
participating in the programme. That pass, plus a doctor's receipt and
foreign license plates, will allow patients access to the special lane.
Once in the lane, vehicles can bypass the traffic on the Mexican side of
the border crossing, and cut to near the front of the line. Mexicali is
promoting the medical tourism lane in Arizona, Nevada and California to
persuade more residents there to visit Mexicali doctors. Patients who
go to the Mexicali area for affordable medical services also stay in
hotels, eat in restaurants, use taxis and attend shows. One problem is
that the shortcut only works on the Mexican side, since medical tourists
can still be subject to delays from U.S. Customs and Border Protection
agents. To avoid abuse, Mexicali tourism officials are requiring
participating doctors to sign a contract with the tourism board to
ensure they only give passes to foreign patients who are crossing the
border. Each pass costs the doctors $4.
Mexico City is raising its profile as a centre for medical tourism
with a campaign aimed at residents in Chicago and other cities with
large Mexican immigrant populations who need cancer treatment, heart
surgery, dental procedures and other health care. The marketing campaign
is focusing on Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the USA,
starting in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego. Although there are no
statistics on how many US patients travel to Mexico City for health
care, local health officials say that have been climbing since it began
promotions in Chicago and other US. Among the services being promoted in
Mexico City are organ transplants, diabetes care, gastrointestinal
procedures and fertility treatment, with the costs 40 to 80% cheaper
than those in the USA.
A number of clinics in Mexico are located very close to the US
border, and many patients opt to travel to these places and return home
the same day. The proximity of the location is a major factor for
American medical tourists in addition to the significantly lower prices.
Cosmetic surgery, obesity treatment and dental treatment are on offer
in places such as Tijuana. Crime in Tijuana is a problem but less common
in tourist areas.