TL and Medical Tourism

tanksoldier · 09-09-2018, 10:28 AM

The funny thing is, in the real world, medical tourism often works the other way around.

People from lower tech countries do come to the US for treatment but usually are sponsored by some charity because of the cost of treatment. The average person from a Nairobi can’t afford to travel to the US, stay here and pay for treatment. Only the wealthy or sponsored can do it.

...and keep in mind the several discussions here about how money from a TL-7 planet isn’t worth as much as money from a TL-10 planet.

However US citizens far more often travel to other countries for treatment because it’s cheaper. If you don’t need absolute cutting edge tech to fix your problem, going to a lower tech and thus cheaper area for treatment becomes an option. Also, it may provide options for treatment that aren’t available due to regulation or ethical issues.

I expect that medical tourism in Traveller would involve more people traveling to lower tech planets to receive less expensive treatment that can be effectively provided at that tech level... especially plastic surgery.

09-09-2018, 10:28 AM	#2
tanksoldier Join Date: Feb 2005	Re: TL and Medical Tourism The funny thing is, in the real world, medical tourism often works the other way around. People from lower tech countries do come to the US for treatment but usually are sponsored by some charity because of the cost of treatment. The average person from a Nairobi can’t afford to travel to the US, stay here and pay for treatment. Only the wealthy or sponsored can do it. ...and keep in mind the several discussions here about how money from a TL-7 planet isn’t worth as much as money from a TL-10 planet. However US citizens far more often travel to other countries for treatment because it’s cheaper. If you don’t need absolute cutting edge tech to fix your problem, going to a lower tech and thus cheaper area for treatment becomes an option. Also, it may provide options for treatment that aren’t available due to regulation or ethical issues. I expect that medical tourism in Traveller would involve more people traveling to lower tech planets to receive less expensive treatment that can be effectively provided at that tech level... especially plastic surgery. Last edited by tanksoldier; 09-09-2018 at 10:41 AM.