Article Summary
More than a million Americans are estimated to have gone to other countries in 2014 for medical
procedures. Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock was among those Americans who travelled
abroad in 2014 to partake in what is being referred to as “medical tourism”. From his own experience
and those of others who had also travelled for medical procedures, Spurlock found that there can be
distinct advantages to medical tourism for certain patients and procedures. Those advantages
include: The level of care offered in many hospitals, with the best hospitals reportedly meeting or
exceeding Western standards; Significantly lower costs, examples of which include a heart bypass
operation in the United States that typically runs $88,000 can cost as little as $31,500 in Costa Rica,
and hip replacement surgery that averages $33,000 domestically is only $12,400 in Thailand; The
ability to combine medical procedures with vacations to amazing locations around the globe.
Source: Sean Redlitz, ” Surf, sand … and surgery? Inside the world of medical tourism,” cnn.com,
February 6, 2015
59) Refer to the Article Summary. Assume that foreign governments begin to publicize their existing
medical services to American medical tourists and more Americans consider hip-replacement surgery
to improve their quality of life. What will happen in the market for hip-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.
60) If the demand for a product increases and the supply of the same product decreases, the equilibrium
price will increase.
61) If the demand for a product decreases and the supply of the same product increases, the equilibrium
quantity will increase.