Medical Tourism & Cross-Border Care Watch

Why this is recommended

A crown at $300 instead of $1,500, a CDC alert about a fungal outbreak at clinics in the city a member booked, an FDA personal importation rule that makes a 90-day supply legal, or a state program that imports Canadian drugs at half price are each worth thousands, and the risks are published by agencies patients never read.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The 1.5 million Americans who travel for care each year, the border-state families who get dental work in Los Algodones and everyone pricing a procedure their insurance will not cover.

When it runs

Agencies publish on weekdays and the long weekend is when people cross the border for a crown

Scope

Published pricing and outcome data for dental, bariatric, orthopedic, cosmetic, cardiac, fertility and pharmacy care abroad; FDA personal importation rules and state Canadian importation programs; CDC Health Alert Network and State Department notices for medical travelers; Joint Commission International and accreditation changes; insurer and employer cross-border and travel surgery plans; US hospital policies on complications from care abroad; CBP and FDA medication declaration rules; FTC, state and foreign enforcement against clinics and brokers; medical travel insurance

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Dental, surgical, fertility and pharmacy pricing and safety data in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Turkey, Thailand, India, Canada and the border towns, FDA and state rules on importing prescriptions, Canadian drug importation program status by state, CDC and State Department safety alerts for medical travelers including infections and cartel-area warnings, accreditation changes at foreign hospitals, US insurer and employer cross-border plans, follow-up care and complication rules at US hospitals, border crossing and medication declaration rules and fraud and clinic enforcement actions, written for patients and never individual advice, with the country, procedure or rule first.

Track medical travel and cross-border care for US patients, written for patients. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: published pricing, outcome and safety data for dental, bariatric, orthopedic, cosmetic, cardiac, fertility and pharmacy care in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Turkey, Thailand, India, Canada and other destinations; FDA personal importation rule changes and state Canadian drug importation program status; CDC Health Alert Network and State Department safety notices affecting medical travelers including infection outbreaks and regional warnings; Joint Commission International and other accreditation changes at foreign hospitals; US insurer and employer cross-border and travel surgery plan changes; US hospital policies on treating complications from care abroad; CBP and FDA medication declaration and quantity rules; FTC, state and foreign enforcement against clinics and brokers; and medical travel insurance changes. Prefer the CDC, State Department, FDA, CBP, state health departments, accreditation bodies, insurer pages and established health reporting; ignore clinic and broker marketing, and never give individual medical advice. Put the country, procedure or rule first in the title. Use high severity for a CDC or State Department alert tied to clinics, an importation rule change, or an enforcement action against a widely used clinic or broker. Return no more than 6 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what changed, the risks, what to do, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.