Sun, sand and scalpels 

Mar 8th 2007 | BANGKOK From The Economist print edition
 

Soaring health-care costs in the rich world offer Asian firms an opportunity
 

 
AMERICA'S soaring health-care costs, already $2 trillion a year, are predicted to double in the coming decade.
Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse as demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer the costly ailments of old age. In countries like Britain and Canada, with supposedly universal coverage, state spending is not keeping up with growing demand, so patients face long and agonising waits for operations. And in the prosperous bits of Asia and the Middle East growing numbers of people are rich enough to demand high-quality medical care that they cannot get locally. 

All this presents a fantastic business opportunity for those Asian countries, principally Thailand, Singapore and India, which have excellent private hospitals that are used to treating foreigners and where costs are a fraction of those in rich countries. “Medical tourism” is booming as patients look abroad for cheap, fast treatment, often combined with a holiday afterwards. Josef Woodman, the author of “Patients Beyond Borders”, a new guide for those seeking surgery abroad, reckons that 150,000 Americans did so last year, and predicts the numbers will double this year.

Booming demand is encouraging rapid expansion at big stockmarket-listed hospital operators such as Thailand's Bumrungrad and Bangkok Dusit, Singapore's Parkway and Pacific Healthcare and India's Apollo Hospitals. This week Pacific Healthcare said it would build seven medical centres across Asia. Bumrungrad, which treated 430,000 non-Thais last year, has just expanded its Bangkok hospital and is setting up in the Philippines and Dubai.

Singapore is more expensive than Thailand, but still far cheaper than America. Goh Jin Hian, the head of Parkway's Gleneagles Hospital, says Singapore should try to compete for the most complex treatments, leaving cosmetic surgery and other price-sensitive operations to lower-cost rivals such as Thailand. Nevertheless, like the Thai hospital operators, he is sure the medical-travel boom will provide plenty of foreign patients for them all.

Mr Woodman reckons that today's boom is just the start. So far, most medical tourists pay their own way. But the Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs. Bumrungrad's marketing chief, Ruben Toral, who was in America this week for talks with insurers and big employers, says they were very keen. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina already offers Bumrungrad's cut-price treatments to members whose policies do not cover the surgery they need.
 
 
To reassure foreign patients, many hospitals are seeking accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of the body that accredits American hospitals. Thailand's Bumrungrad and nine Singaporean hospitals already have JCI certificates. Raymond Chong, the boss of Bangkok Dusit's Samitivej Hospital, reckons it will be only a year or two before big American insurers and employers routinely offer patients lower premiums if they are prepared to travel to a foreign JCI-accredited hospital for surgery.

For patients, employers and insurers the benefits are clear. But the hospital operators are bracing themselves for a backlash from the rich countries' medical vested interests whose jobs are, in effect, being outsourced. Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home.

Soaring health-care costs in the rich world offer Asian firms an opportunity  /

与名词cost 搭配的动词soar / surge / skyrocket / rocket / jump / climb / plunge / dip等等。

Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care

大家注意到rocket了吧

So far, most medical tourists pay their own way.

e.g. He paid his own way to the United States. 他自费到了美国。

下面是我对里面几句句子的翻译 拜托大家给看看 还有一些搞不懂的问题想问一下

1.Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse as demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer the costly ailments of old age. 由于花费要求颇高且健康问题集中的生育高峰期出生的人（指二战以后出生的人）正当退休之时，而且他们一有小毛小病花费就很贵，因此对直线飙升的医疗费的不满声只会越来越大。

2 in the prosperous bits of Asia 当中bits是不是指亚洲的一些富国？

3 stockmarket-listed 可不可以翻译成“上市”

4 But the Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs.然而亚洲的医院经营者正试图讨好美国的保险公司，这些保险公司正因无法控制飙升的医疗费用而感到绝望。

2.3理解是对的

1.4有点问题

建议楼上的朋友把主干结构找出来。

1.Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse 是不是1的主句,然后是接上as引导的原因状语从句?

4.主句:the Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers ,而desperate to rein in soaring costs是不是一个定语从句修饰American health insurers and employers.

American health insurers and employers 看上去是从事医疗保险业雇员和老板,是不是可以理解成美国的医疗保险公司?

court在这里是不是"讨好,试图取悦"的意思

5.But the hospital operators are bracing themselves for a backlash from the rich countries' medical vested interests whose jobs are, in effect, being outsourced.由于将工作是实行外包制的国有医疗既得利益集团的强烈抵制,这些医院的经营者正准备保护他们自己.

6.shroud-waving有"吓人的,耸人听闻"的意思吗

下面是我对里面几句句子的理解：

Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse as demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer the costly ailments of old age. 这句话的意思我认为是新生儿的过分要求和健康的重视影响了退休并且开始使老年人承担了昂贵的看病费用，所以对快速上涨的看护费用不满。
But the Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs.我认为desperate为形容词修饰American health insurers and employers ，该句意思为美国医院的管理者正讨好那些美国处于绝望的健康保险者和老板来制止上涨成本。由于医疗成本的上涨，给保险公司带来压力，因此医院才会降低成本。
Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home。
这句话我不是十分理解，是不是个祈使句？没主语。

这是我对这句话的理解

Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home。
这句话我的理解是:医生团体和健康联合会的预期更加耸人听闻，就像他们所特别指出的一些国外外科手术的失败案例一样，尽管这种事情从未发生过。

1.Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse as demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer the costly ailments of old age. 

主干：Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse

后面的从句结构为：...baby-boomers hit ... and start to...

 4 Butthe Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs.

desperate to rein in soaring costs. 作定语，修饰American health insurers and employers

Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home.
这句话的句子结构如何分析？

Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home.
其中“Expect （is） much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions” 我觉得是省略谓语is的主句，然后是as引导的状语从句，这里as是不是作“正如”解啊？最后我觉得也是一个由as though引导的状语从句。这里的back home不是是指富国的医院啊？

昨天理解这句话肯定有错误，今天改正不知是否正确：

医生团体和健康联合会的预期更加耸人听闻，就像他们所特别指出的一些国外外科手术的失败案例一样，好像这样的事情在本国从未发生过一样。

1.Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care will only get worse as demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer the costly ailments of old age.
主干Dissatisfaction will get worse  （as  “baby-boomers” hit retirement and start to suffer ailments）。
Dissatisfaction with the rocketing price of care对医疗费用飞涨的不满
demanding and health-conscious “baby-boomers”：demanding ， health-conscious 修饰baby-boomers，解释为，对医疗重视的和要求高的
hit retirement 到达退休年龄
suffer the aliment患病
costly aliments of old age 需要花费高昂费用的老年人的疾病

2But the Asian hospital operators are now courting American health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs.
operators 理解为经营者
court 可以理解为设法获得某人的支持，
health insurers 医疗保险公司，employers 雇主，老板，总裁
rein in 控制
health insurers and employers desperate to rein in soaring costs中 desperate to rein in soaring costs（意思为急于控制飞涨的医疗成本）做后置定语，修饰health insurers and employers

3But the hospital operators are bracing themselves for a backlash from the rich countries' medical vested interests whose jobs are, in effect, being outsourced.
brace for 准备应对...
backlash抵制
vested interests: the groups of people who will gain from a plan, project, proposal etc 从某些计划项目等获得礼仪的群体
 vested interests whose jobs are, in effect, being outsourced.那些被亚洲医院抢去饭碗的既得利益集团

4Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home。
shroud-waving：n BrE when people, especially doctors or politicians, publicly criticize the quality of medical care in the British National Health Service, in order to make the government provide more money for it把英文解释理解为在美国的情况，
整句省略了主语，Asian hospitals expect much shroud-waving.

希望对没有理解的点友有所帮助，如果有疑问再探讨。

1.Goh Jin Hian, the head of Parkway's Gleneagles Hospital, says Singapore should try to compete for the most complex treatments, leaving cosmetic surgery and other price-sensitive operations to lower-cost rivals such as Thailand.

其中lower-cost怎么翻译才能比较好呢 能不能翻译成“（相对）小本经营”

2.Expect much shroud-waving from doctors' associations and health-care unions as they highlight the few cases of foreign surgery that go wrong—as though such a thing never happens back home。

back home是不是指Asian hospitals的所在地，即本国

而such a thing是指从doctors' associations and health-care unions得到shroud-waving