Traveling for Treatment: A Comparative Analysis of Patient Mobility Debates in the European Union and United States

International medical travel, or medical tourism, is receiving attention globally. Most discussions focus on the potential savings from outsourcing medical care. This article adopts a comparative approach, identifying lessons from European Union discussions that illuminate areas left obscure in the broader international debate. First, it points out that the highly visible US debate, focused on cost, is ignoring two other crucial components of health care policy: access and quality. Second, it examines debates about medical travel in the European Union in order to understand the kinds of issues that arise when considering access and quality in medical travel, the political discussions that emerge, and the solutions that the EU has been able to adopt. The conclusion identifies issues that the EU has faced and that will arise as debates about international medical travel start to incorporate access and quality.