Two Canadian companies are offering to send U.S. and Canadian patients to get healthcare in Cuba for reduced prices traveling overseas for medical treatment, two Canadian companies hope to make an imprint by offering healthcare to Canadian and U.S. residents in socialist Cuba.
''We looked throughout Latin America or the Caribbean for a cheap source of medical services,'' says Daren Jorgenson, owner of Choice Medical Services in Winnipeg. ``Cuba is well known for high standards of healthcare.''
Some experts dispute the reference to high standards, but no one disputes the prices. Hip replacement, which can cost up to $38,000 in the United States, can be done in Cuba for $7,600, Jorgenson says. A tummy tuck can be had for $2,800, compared with $5,200 in the United States.
Soaring costs in the United States and a growing number of uninsured have emboldened patients to look overseas for healthcare. The Florida-based Medical Tourism Association estimates that several hundred thousand Americans now travel for health services each year.
Many countries -- from India to Mexico -- have become popular destinations for patients, and many entrepreneurs in the United States and elsewhere have set up companies to facilitate the process.
Cuba is a special case, because the U.S. embargo makes it illegal for Americans to spend money there for treatment.
Three South Florida experts on Cuban healthcare say foreigners with dollars receive much better care than Cubans, but still there could be problems getting treatment in Cuba. And a Miami ophthalmologist disputes the claims of another Canadian company, which says Cuba's doctors are able to prevent a type of blindness that Canadian and U.S. doctors can't.More on the story.
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