I don't know what kind of health care reform will come out of this session, but I strongly suspect it won't be much. There is, however a silver lining behind this very dark cloud. I am reminded of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of it, there really isn't a hell of a lot to remember about it; a mere pittance, really – a scrap of leftovers tossed out to "American Negros" (in the parlance of the age) in order to appease them. But it made the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – the one we remember – all the more easier seven years later.

We'll live to fight another day.

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan

It is widely believed that our prices are lower than in the U.S. because malpractice is a much less costly issue here. That is true but, more importantly, our medical industry is far less encumbered by the layers and layers of expensive bureaucracy found north of the border. You can receive treatment here from world-class specialists at a fraction of what you'd pay in the U.S.

Consequently, Tijuana now offers a staggering array of medical and dental services. A couple of the more recent additions have been gerontological ophthalmology and bilingual retirement homes.

The _standard_ of care is different in Tijuana than it is north of the border: our doctors spend much more time with their patients. The _quality_ of care is every bit as good as you find in the U.S., often better because our doctors tend to take a more holistic approach with their patients.

The Real Tijuana is a new blog that describes Baja California from the inside. People who actually live in Tijuana address issues of local culture, medicine, cuisine, and history with the goal of making tourism less intimidating and more rewarding. We will be addressing aspects of medical tourism in upcoming blog entries. If you have a particular procedure in mind, drop us a line (there’s an e-mail link on the blog) and we’ll try to address it first.