A recent Monmouth University study shows more than one-third of United States residents wish to move abroad. Pollsters report 34% of respondents would settle in another country if given the opportunity. Fifty years ago, only 10% of Americans responded similarly.
Researchers picked Americans’ brains using the same “slice of life” questions 11 times since their inaugural ask in 1948, exploring Americans’ hobbies, interests and travel preferences across demographics, including age, gender, race and party line.
One-third want to leave
The Gallup Organization asked modern Americans the same question given to respondents in 1974: “If you were free to do so, would you like to go and settle in another country, or not?”
While the question remains the same, Americans have never wanted to leave more. In the 1970s, 87% of those surveyed said they would not leave the U.S. Only 10% expressed interest and 3% said they “don’t know.” This time, 34% reported they would emigrate.
The number of would-be emigrants reached its all-time lowest in 1991, with only 9% confirming they’d explore other countries, though it rose post-Gulf War. Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray says political preferences play a role in recent emigration interest.
“After holding pretty steady over 50 years following World War II, there was a huge jump in the number of Americans who want to leave the country sometime in the last three decades … I’d be willing to bet that the partisan rancor of the past few years has played a significant role in the heightened desire to emigrate.”
What else drives Americans’ interest in mass exodus? Foreign living platform Expatsi published findings this year for its latest Expatsi Test, a diagnostic resource designed for Americans with emigration interests. The test collates varying data pools using quiz criteria about how they see their lives in a new culture.
The health care conversation
One of the most overwhelming responses concerns health care, often a bone of contention in America. When asked how they expected to cover health care costs living abroad, 70% of those interested in relocation chose “universal health care.”
Citizens’ desire to leave correlates with Americans’ ever-rising medical costs; Statista reports the average U.S. resident’s health expenditures at $13,439 per capita in 2022. This figure amounted to only $146 per person in 1960 – a 9,000% increase over those 60 years.
The National Center for Health Statistics finds 25 million people – 7.6% of all Americans – didn’t have health insurance in 2023, most uninsured aged 18 to 64. Citizens older than 65 are the most insured.
About two-thirds of Expatsi Test responders are aged 25-54. This group is more likely to have young children but less likely to have health coverage.
Allure of Mexican health care
The National recently explored U.S. citizens’ increasing reliance on Mexican health care. Writer Sara Ruthven describes American health insurance as a never-ending labyrinth of third parties, administrators and bureaucracy, a combo compounding America’s burdensome medical debt and sky-high treatment prices.
A sea of red tape and largely cost-prohibitive treatments means Mexico is, unsurprisingly, American departees’ top choice as a medical treatment destination.
U.S. citizens can obtain a six-month Mexican visa using only a valid passport, a cross-border agreement that leaves plenty of time for recovery. However, experts urge Americans planning their departure to research their preferred destination and practice caution when leaving the country for medical procedures, citing numerous malpractice claims and fatalities.
Rise of medical tourism
Many Americans’ financial strain propels their interest in relocation, but emigration processes are often costly. For would-be patients unable to afford to uproot and plant themselves somewhere new, some companies offer services to help Americans become medical tourists.
One such platform is HealthStay, a new resource for health care-seeking ex-pats. This company offers international patients bespoke, top-level medical care in the United Arab Emirates alongside elite accommodations, including luxurious post-operation excursions. Some evidence even suggests aesthetics and environment may contribute to faster postoperative recovery.
Daunting travel expenses still pose barriers for many American consumers, as health care costs and international travel are both cost-prohibitive.
Turkey sets bar for medical tourism
Across the pond, Turkey is Europe’s Mexico. The transcontinental country is a magnet for European medical tourists – especially cosmetic procedures – and caters mostly to German, Russian and British tourists seeking dental design and hair replacement therapy.
Turkey’s booming medical tourism industry welcomed 1 million patients in 2022 and is on pace to serve nearly one-quarter of the globe’s medical tourists. Viral Turkish elective procedures even generated new slang – “Turkey teeth” – commonly used in the United Kingdom to describe the vivid white chompers medical tourists return home with.
While Americans might not need to look beyond its southern neighbor for medical tourism, they have other options. Expatsi’s catalog of most recommended countries primes Portugal, Spain and Switzerland for their position among other sought-after medical destinations.
These E.U. members boast universal health care and offer a more affordable standard of living than the U.S. Regardless of where tourists are or where they’re going, sound employment opportunities and health care access are musts when heading overseas or across the border.
This article was produced by Media Decision and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.