Medical outsourcing refers to the act of seeking medical treatment in foreign countries. Over the recent years, the high costs of the US medical care has forced a number of Americans to seek affordable quality medical care from outside the US in countries like Mexico, India and Thailand.
Justice issues in the case study
Amy has a right to seek oversea medical treatment in countries where she feels that she will get best medical care at affordable price. A person’s health is important and therefore quality medical care should be considered at all costs. Consequently, it is right for Amy to seek medical care in other countries where she will get high quality care at affordable cost.
The reason why it is an ethical question whether Amy goes overseas for her treatment
Seeking medical care in other countries poses an ethical dilemma to Amy. The main ethical question that Amy faces is whether to seek high-tech medical care in private oversea hospitals that offer quality care to foreigners at the expense of their own local residents. Also, Amy risks inadequate safeguarding from the US government to ensure that she would receive high quality health care. She is therefore uncertain of the assurance of good medical care provision in oversea countries since some medical facilities in oversea countries may not be accredited as well as the possibility of being handled by poor skilled surgeon. Moreover, Amy is faced with ethical question of the possibility of suffering from infectious and noninfectious complications that could arise as a result of medical tourism. As much as she wants oversea treatment, she is also worried on possibility of contracting ailments as a result of travelling oversea for treatment.
The governments in oversea countries channels huge funding to private hospitals that provide health care to foreigners while at the same time providing little funding to the public hospitals. Therefore the quality health care enjoyed by foreigners is at the expense of locals who are subjected to treatment in public hospitals that are underfunded rendering them unable to offer quality health care to the majority of local citizens. Therefore, it poses ethical challenge for Amy to seek quality and affordable medical care in oversea countries that offer it to foreigners at the expense of their own citizens since it is ethically wrong to benefit at expense of other people.
Available options
Amy should consider the following options before deciding on going oversea for medical treatment;
i. Consider the reliability of the facilitator. The facilitator should be credible enough to provide information that can be relied upon. Choose the most reliable Facilitator
ii. She should establish contacts with the facilitator to understand the services provided by the health care facility and do comparison with other facilitators to ensure she chooses the hospital that offers quality health care.
iii. Establish the options to take in case the medical care from oversea providers is not satisfactory. Establish a third person who can help you in such a circumstance.
iv. Determine what is in the quotation and whatever could be missing so as to adequately prepare for the medical journey and also to avoid inconveniences during treatment period.
Key Stakeholders
The key stakeholders are the foreign government, foreign health care providers, the Facilitator, Providers of travelling means and the Patient. Countries whose government has friendly policies on medical tourism should be chosen, most reliable Facilitator should be considered and also consider the means of travelling and Chose the most affordable reliable means. Moreover, hospitals offering quality health care at affordable prices should be given priority.
Contractarianism and Utilitarianism theories
Contractarianism is a theory that holds that individuals make right choices under hypothetical social contracts while utilitarianism approach holds that the best actions are the ones that maximizes utility of a person.
Does Contractarianism and Utilitarianism theories offer different solutions?
Yes, they offer different solutions. Contractarianism theory holds that actions depend on the situation surrounding a person. The situation determines whether an action is justifiable. On the other hand, utilitarianism theory holds that actions are justifiable if they maximizes one’s utility or satisfaction.
