Health News Round-up

In the news:

Finding cheaper healthcare abroad … Bargaining for cheaper care at home … New studies cast doubt on value of common cancer test for men.

Finding cheaper healthcare abroad

New York Times reporter Walecia Konrad writes about how more and more Americans are going abroad for healthcare where the cost of some procedures can be 20 percent of the cost of the same care at home. 

Konrad writes: 

Medical tourism is expected to expand quickly in the coming years because of rising health care costs in the United States, the increasing availability of international facilities with United States accreditation, and the fact that American insurers and employers are beginning to embrace the practice.

To learn more:

•  Read Konrad’s article in the New York Times – Patient Money: Finding Affordable Health Care in Foreign Hospitals

Bargaining for cheaper care at home

New York Times reporter Lesley Alderman offers tips on how you can dicker with your doctor to bring down your medical bills. 

Alderman writes: 

When money is tight , everything is negotiable—including your health care bills.

To learn more:

• Read Alderman’s tips in her article: Bargaining down the medical bills.

Studies cast doubt on usefulness of prostate cancer test

Two large studies, one in Europe and one in the USA, suggest that the prostate serum antigen (PSA) test often recommended to men over age 50 does little to save lives. 

To learn more:

• Read Gina Kolata’s article in the New York Times: Prostate Test Found to Save Few Lives
  
• Read the original U.S.and European studies and commentary that appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Category: Health Insurance, Health-care Policy, Prostate Cancer