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DELEGATE WANTS TO GLOBALIZE WV HEALTH CARE - State Government Could Be Outsourced To India |
| (02/03/2006) |
| By Bob Weaver West Virginia could get ahead of other states, globalizing and outsourcing, thinking "out of the box." Delegate Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier, took the House of Delegates floor yesterday saying health care should jump on the globalized bandwagon. He wants to outsource West Virginia state employees' health care to foreign countries. Canterbury said "I want to use the global free market to fix the American health-care system." His proposal (HB4359) would allow those covered by the state Public Employees Insurance Agency to go to foreign hospitals for operations. He said he wants to give opportunity for those insured in WV to access Bumrungrad International in Bangkok, which he said is like a five-star resort. That hospital performs open-heart surgery for under $8,000, far under-cutting the costs in Charleston or Morgantown. Canterbury named other resort-status foreign hospitals in such places as New Delhi, India, and Singapore, all having top quality health care at a much lower price. His bill would pay for travel, living costs, plus the operation. It would even include a bonus, giving the patient 20% of the amount saved by going overseas. Canterbury said a North Carolina man was told cost of his open-heart surgery would be at least $100,000, but he went to a hospital in India for $10,000. His proposal brought some smiles and giggles to the chamber, according to the Charleston Gazette, along with applause from several Republicans, while Canterbury said he was most serious. Hopefully, later in the session, there will be a bill to outsource the entire WV legislature and most state bureaucratic jobs. Just think of the savings, pennies on the dollar. If that could happen, you don't even have to worry about health benefits, worker's comp or funding retirement programs. There would be few, if any environmental concerns over the disposal of waste products.
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