Why a million Americans a year risk Mexico medical tourism

 

Four Americans were kidnapped by heavily armed men in Mexico on March 3, with two now confirmed dead and the remaining alive and back in the US hospitals for treatment. They were driving through the Mexican border town of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in a white minivan with North Carolina licence plates.

While the investigation is still in the early stages, officials have confirmed that the victims were transferred to numerous locations between the kidnapping on Friday and their discovery this Tuesday. Investigators think an organised crime group is potentially behind the incident, a US law enforcement source told CBS.

One of the survivors was said to have been travelling to Mexico for a cosmetic surgery procedure to remove abdominal fat. Medical tourism isn't uncommon, especially among Americans living in the US border states. Tens of thousands of US citizens take on the risk every year and travel to the Mexican border towns for low-cost medical services.

Price and proximity have made Mexico one of the top medical tourism destinations for Americans who cannot afford healthcare in the US.

Medical shoppers familiar with the region have learned to take certain precautions, such as avoiding wandering around these border towns on foot and registering their automobile in Mexico, which enables them to use a Mexican licence plate after entering the country so they will be less of a target.

The kidnapping and subsequent killing of the Americans is "out of the norm", said Nestor Rodriguez, an immigration studies expert and professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. But this is a reminder that the border is not really safe, he further mentioned.

The US State Department has shared bits of advice for travellers on not visiting six Mexican states, including Tamaulipas, because of "crime and kidnapping". Matamoros in Tamaulipas is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico as large areas of the state are controlled by drug cartels, who might even yield greater power than local law enforcement.