据BBC报道，出国看病的美国人每年都在增加，2000年，有29.5万美国人出国看病，而到了2017年，人数涨到了42.2万，医疗旅游（medical tourism）就这么火起来了。

来自美国密西西比的Melissa就是美国出国看病大军的一员，今年早些时候，她去哥斯达黎加一家私立医院做了膝关节置换手术，现在病情正在恢复当中。

“出国做这么大的手术，我本来也是很担心的” (Via BBC)

虽然之前对于出国看病有点疑虑，但对于此行的经历还是很满意：

She praises all the staff that treated her.

她表扬了医院里照顾她的员工。

"I had a meltdown one day [at the hospital] because of the pain, and the feeling of helplessness," she says. "But the nurses and techs were so sweet and helped to calm me."

“有一天，(在医院里)我因为疼痛和无助感而感到沮丧，”她说。 “但护士和技术人员非常好心，帮助我平静下来。”

Via BBC

而且更重要的是，出去这趟还是给她省了不少钱:

She says that her knee operation in Clinica Biblica, Costa Rica's largest private hospital, cost $12,200 (£9,200), compared with around $44,000 in the US.

Melissa说,她在哥斯达黎加最大的私立医院Clinica Biblicaz做了膝盖手术，费用为12200美元（约81991人民币），而如果在美国做的话，花费约为44000美元（约295706人民币）。

Via BBC

这么看来，价格上的差距可以说是很大了。所以，像Melissa这样选择出国看病，背后的原因也是很无奈：

While many Americans do so because theydon't have health insurance- official figures show that more than 28 million do not - others like Melissa go overseas because their basic cover means that they have to pay a sizeable chunk of any treatment bill.

许多美国人选择出国看病是因为他们没有医疗保险。官方数据显示，美国有超过2800万人没有医疗保险，而其他像Melissa这样的人，就算有保险，看任何病都必须自己支付相当大一部分治疗费用。

Via BBC

图 Via Getty Images

而据The Guardian2018年的一份报道，美国的医疗可以说是世界上最贵的：

高物价让美国医疗成为世界最贵 (Via The Guardian)

The United States spends twice as much on healthcare as 10 other high-income nations, driven by the high price of everything from prescription drugs to doctors’ salaries, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds.

《美国医学协会杂志》的一项新研究发现，美国在医疗保健方面的花费是其他10个高收入国家的两倍，造成这一现象的原因包括昂贵的处方药以及医生工资等。

Via The Guardian

出于这种原因，出国看病的美国人就越来越多：

人们正在放弃美国医疗，飞去其他国家寻求付得起的医疗服务 (Via thisisinsider.com)

The American healthcare system is known for being notoriously expensive. It doesn't help that, according to data collected in 2017 by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index,11.3% of Americans are not able to afford health insurance.

众所周知，美国医疗价格非常昂贵。更无奈的是，根据盖洛普健康幸福指数 2017年收集的数据，11.3％的美国人买不起医疗保险。

Even those who do have health insurance often find themselvesstruggling to pay sky-high medical fees. For example, a Reddit user went viral in 2013 when he posted a photo of the hospital bill he received when he was treated for appendicitis. The total charges came to over $55,000, and even with health insurance, he had to pay over $11,000 out of pocket.

即使是有医疗保险的人也经常发现自己付不起高昂的医疗费用。比如，2013年，一名Reddit用户在网上发布了自己接受阑尾炎治疗时收到的医院账单照片，迅速火遍网络。账单总费用超过55000美元，就算是有医疗保险，他也不得不自己支付11000多美元的费用。

Via thisisinsider.com

去年6月，美国加利福尼亚一个博主Alyne Tamir还在网上发布了一条视频，讲述自己去国外看病的经历：

图 Via Dear Alyne/Facebook

In the video, Tamir explained it would have cost $1,500 to fix her tooth in the US. Instead, she had her root canal done in Egypt.

视频中，Tamir解释说，在美国看牙会花费1500美元。于是，她就去埃及做了根管治疗。

"A nice hotel in Egypt costs around $70 a night," she told INSIDER. "And the actual root canal was only $120. This was at a fancy dentist too; you can definitely get it for way cheaper somewhere else in Egypt."

在埃及，住一家不错的酒店每晚花费约70美元，”她告诉INSIDER。 “做根管只需要120美元，而且还是一个比较贵的牙医。在埃及，你也完全可以找到其他更便宜的价格。”

Via VCG

而且据报道，美国大多数保险公司的保险项目不包含某些牙科项目以及整容，其国内的这些医疗项目有又非常贵，就有人选择去国外做。

In the US, for example, the average cost of LASIK eye surgery is $2,088 per eye. Ragusa, however, told INSIDER that she received LASIK in South Korea and paid a total of $1,400 — including all of the check-ups before and after the surgery, the surgery itself on both eyes, the medicine, and all future care for life.

例如，在美国，视力激光手术的平均成本为每只眼睛2088美元。然而，Ragusa告诉INSIDER，她在韩国做的激光手术只花了1400美元，其中包括手术前后的所有检查，双眼手术，药物以及终生护理费用。

Via thisisinsider.com

另外，还有些患慢性疾病、需要进行长期治疗的美国人也会选择去国外看病，甚至还有人因为国内生孩子费用太高，为了省钱去国外生孩子。

各国平均生育费用(红色为顺产费用，橘色为剖腹产费用)

在美国生孩子比在其他国家花费更高 (图 Via the Guardian)

实际上，不止美国人，其他国家的人也在选择出国看病，比如说英国人。虽然英国人有National Health Service（英国国家健康体系）这样的公费医疗体系保障，但是排队的时间也不算短，而且据报道，NHS系统下，也存在牙科医生数量不足这类问题，整容这类的手术不在免费医疗范围内。

Medigo, a German-based medical travel company says that queries from UK residentsjumped 53%last year. Official figures from the UK's Office of National Statistics also show that a rising number of people are going abroad for treatment.

一家德国的医疗旅游公司Medigo表示，来自英国居民的咨询量去年暴涨53%。英国国家统计局的官方数据也显示，越来越多的人出国接受治疗。

Via BBC

一位叫Amanda Wells的英国人就去波兰做了一场手术：

The 46-year-old travelled to Poland last year to have a painful bunion removed from her left foot, because she didn't want towait the nine monthsthat her GP estimated it would take her to get the operation on the NHS.

46岁的Amanda Wells去年去波兰做了手术，治疗左脚的拇趾囊肿，因为她的医生估计她需要等九个月才能上公费医疗的手术台，她不想再等了。

She says she was able to get the work done in Poland for £3,000, half the amount she was quoted by a private surgeon in the UK.

她说她在波兰做手术的花了3000英镑，但是在英国，这只是一位私人外科医生手术费用的一半。

Via BBC

Amanda Wells (图Via BBC)

这就推动了医疗旅游业的发展。

Patients Beyond Borders, a publisher of guidebooks for "medical tourists" estimates that more than 20 million people will travel to another country for medical treatment this year,up 25% from 16 million last year.

据一家做“医疗游客”指南的出版商Patients Beyond Borders估计，今年，有2000万人会去其他国家看病，相比去年的160万上涨25%。

Meanwhile, a 2017 report by payments giant Visa estimated that the medical tourism industry was worth more than $100bn a year, and continuing to grow in value by quarter every year.

同时，支付巨头Visa2017年的一份调查估计，每年，医疗旅游产业产值超过1000亿美元，

Via BBC

不过，也有专家提醒出国看病的人注意，回国之后可能会发生感染，或者涉及一些后续治疗，也可能是一笔很大的费用。就算在国内有保险，保险也不一定会进行赔付，反而会花更多钱。

你怎么看待出国看病？欢迎在评论里留言。

文：BBC, The Guardian, thisisinsider.com

整合：Sasa

图：BBC, The Guardian, thisisinsider.com, Getty Images, VCG, 网络