Article Summary. A growing number of U.S. citizens are going to other countries
for elective surgery procedures. Improved quality and significant cost savings
abroad have attracted an increasing number of what are being referred to as
American medical tourists, especially those who either do not have insurance or
whose insurance does not cover the desired procedure. As few as five years ago,
Americans tended to travel to countries such as Thailand or Mexico for the
procedures, but many are now choosing to go to Europe, where governments and
hospitals are now publicizing these services. Many of the procedures being done
overseas are joint replacement, and partly in response to the number of patients
going abroad for these procedures, programs are being developed to reduce the
cost of these surgeries in the United States.
Source: Elizabeth Rosenthal, “The Growing Popularity of Having Surgery
Overseas,” New York Times, August 6, 2013.
If European governments and hospitals continue to publicize their existing services to
American medical tourists and more Americans consider joint-replacement surgery to
improve their quality of life, what will happen in the market for joint-replacement
surgery as a result of these two factors?
A) Demand will increase, but these two factors will not shift the supply curve.
B) Supply will increase, but these two factors will not shift the demand curve.
C) Demand and supply will both increase.
D) Demand will increase and supply will decrease.
Most employees ________ pay taxes on the value of health insurance provided by
employers, and most people ________ get a tax break when buying individual health
insurance policies.
A) do; do
B) do; do not
C) do not; do
D) do not; do not