In recent conversations, well-placed senior administration officials told All This Is That that the health care plan championed by President Obama and the Democratic leadership includes little-known provisions for outsourcing surgeries and medical procedures. One official told me "Let's say you need false teeth, uh...dentures. We can get this work done for you in Tijuana for less than half what it would cost anywhere in the states. And that's after adding in plane fares, meals and a couple of nights in a hotel."
Several independent sources revealed to Mona Goldwater, in the course of fact checking this article, that the U.S. government has already contracted for outsourced medical services in at least seven foreign countries. In some cases, the U.S. Government has purchased or leased land, and is breaking ground on a series of medical facilities in "medical outsource partner countries."
Prospective plans include, but are not limited to, outsourcing kidney and liver procedures to Bulgaria, knee- and hip-replacements to Albania, dental work to Mexico, and reproductive services to Yemen. The most potentially explosive outsourcing initiative involves exporting virtually all geriatric, rehabilitation, and rest home care to Guatemala, where per-patient costs are a fraction of those in the United States.
As one government health services analyst on Capitol Hill told me, "Change. And you guys thought we were bulls***ing, didn't you?"
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