MARQUETTE -- Experts estimate that $80 million leaves the Upper Peninsula each year when people go out of state for health care.
At a meeting of health care professionals on Thursday, they learned that money is not the only thing lost. Jobs are decreased and insurance costs rise as medical procedures are performed in nearby areas, like Wisconsin.
U.P. hospitals are not well known for certain fields of care, like pediatrics and cancer. Sometimes the only option is to leave. However, hospital officials say those specialties are not really the problem.
Jeff Connoly, of Blue Cross Blue Shield, explained, "A lot of it's orthopedic; it's back, it's knee, and this is where hospitals here in the U.P. have the best quality that you would find. So why not have them done here versus traveling two hours?"
An important note for the money conscious health care seeker: Connolly says most medical procedures are actually more expensive in Wisconsin than in Michigan.
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