This is why Trump really wants a wall: Millions of Americans Flood Into Mexico for Health Care

[tenderfoot]

Millions of Americans Flood Into Mexico for Health Care — the Human Caravan You Haven’t Heard About

At just one checkpoint in Yuma, Arizona, up to 6,000 Americans cross the border every day and enter the bustling Mexican town of Los Algodones, seeking heath care.

Unlike the Trump administration that seeks to build a wall between the countries, Los Algodones welcomes Americans seeking dental care with open arms.

Los Algodones has to be seen to believed. There are more dentists per capita than anywhere else in the world. It seems like every square foot of public space wall is covered with advertisements promising quality and affordable dental care, vision care and prescription drugs. The community’s economy is built to serve the flood of “dental refugees” — mostly senior citizens from the US and Canada seeking major dental care they cannot afford in their own countries, even with insurance.

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But the problem is much larger than people lacking dental insurance. Dental insurance is not really insurance. It’s nothing like health or auto insurance, for example.

Most dental plans don’t cover much at all beyond regular check-ups, cleaning, X-rays and fillings. Beyond that, patients are expected to fork over much of the cost of large but common procedures like crowns, root canals and implants. Dental plans also generally pay a maximum of $1,500 annually, a number that’s hardly changed in 50 years. And $1,500 doesn’t go far when you consider the cost of major dental work. The cost of a single crown can be as much as $2,000 and the cost of an implant can run $5,000 a tooth. It’s not uncommon for seniors to need a set of four implants and several crowns, so you can see the costs can quickly get prohibitive.

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Which brings us back to the small town of Los Algodones, or as the locals and visiting patients have affectionately come to call it, “Molar City.” Just seven miles across the border from Yuma, Arizona, visitors looking for dental care are bombarded with a vast array of dental ads, billboards and street vendors offering deals. According to Mayor Christian Camacho, up to 6,000 dental refugees make their way to Los Algodones every day in the temperate season between Thanksgiving and March.

The costs savings are hard to debate. Dental work in Mexico is on average two-thirds less than in the US and customers may save 80 percent or more on some costly operations. Those savings derive partially from Mexico’s less expensive real estate and labor costs, but also, Mexico’s dentists don’t graduate with a ton of student debt.

more: https://truthout.org/articles/millions-of-americans-flood-into-mexico-for-health-care/

[2naSalit]

1. Except we aren't risking our lives trying to get to the other side

of the border. And being citizens, we usually get back in when we want to go home.

[niyad]

2. what the assholes who suport the toddler tyrant fail to understand is that a wall that keeps

people out, also keeps people in.

I kept thinking that tt's wall would make sure that we could not escape his insanity.

[niyad]

3. nice visual here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211740505