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(MCT) NEW DELHI – The number of Americans heading abroad for medical procedures is surging as… (MCT) NEW DELHI – The number of Americans heading abroad for medical procedures is surging as the country’s 46 million people without health insurance look for treatment they can afford and cash-strapped U.S. companies struggle to find cheaper ways to provide high-quality medical care to their employees, according to the American Medical Association.

Mexico has long attracted American travelers looking for cut-rate cosmetic surgery or dental work, and countries like Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines continue to lure medical tourists as well. But India – 15 hours away from the U.S. by plane – is fast becoming the destination of choice for patients seeking risky high-end procedures they can’t afford or can’t manage to schedule with a doctor they trust at home. These include things such as heart surgery, organ transplants and orthopedic procedures such as knee replacement or hip resurfacing.

Last year, the South Asian giant attracted 150,000 medical tourists from the United States, Britain, Africa and elsewhere in South Asia, largely by offering an enticing trio of advantages: highly trained English-speaking doctors, quick appointments and bargain-basement prices. In India, a heart bypass goes for $10,000 and a hip replacement for $9,000, compared with $130,000 and $43,000 respectively in the United States, the AMA said.

India’s initial rush of patients, however, may be nothing compared with what is to come. According to the AMA, major U.S. employers and insurers are exploring whether they could hold down soaring health-care costs by shipping their workers halfway across the world for elective surgery.

“Major [insurers] and employers may soon follow in the footsteps of individuals,” the medical association recognized in a report released last June. It acknowledged that “prices offered to medical tourists are often 60 to 85 percent lower than insurer-negotiated charges in the U.S., a margin that easily offsets travel, first-class hotel for the patient” and other expenses.

Several Fortune 500 companies and the West Virginia Legislature are among those considering bonuses – including first-class airfare and four-star hotel stays – for employees willing to undergo medical treatment abroad. And several major insurers already cover treatment programs in Mexico and Thailand, the AMA said.

India is working hard to make traveling for surgery as appealing as possible for foreigners. The country recently created a special medical visa classification for tourists seeking health care. Some top-of-the-line hospitals and hotels are teaming up to build joint facilities. And many hospitals and medical tourism sales firms offer package deals – from airport pickup to translators and airline bookings – designed to insulate visitors from some of the country’s more trying aspects. -By Laurie Goering, Chicago Tribune

(MCT) HAZLETON, Pa. – This bleak former coal town in northeastern Pennsylvania occupies a unique perch in this year’s presidential contest.

It’s the hometown of “Obama Girl,” the New York City model of YouTube fame whose racy videos proclaiming her crush on Barack Obama are definitely not campaign-sanctioned. Her parents still live here, and her unlikely career break has gotten older, working-class whites talking more than they otherwise might have about the young black politician from Chicago.

This is Clinton country, however. It’s close to Scranton, home to Hillary Clinton’s father, grandparents and great-grandparents, and it’s full of white ethnic working-class voters, who’ve sustained her campaign so far, especially in the Rust Belt.

Then, too, there’s Hazleton’s place on the front line of the illegal immigration debate. When an influx of undocumented workers changed the city’s character and took a toll on school, hospital and public safety budgets, Hazleton adopted headline-grabbing measures to punish companies that employ illegal immigrants and fine landlords who house them. Other cities followed, but last year a federal court threw out the law. The ruling’s under appeal.

All these forces are coming to a slow boil as Hazleton looks to Pennsylvania’s primary April 22 and to the general election in November. If this slice of hard-times country mirrors how Pennsylvania ends up voting, there’s hope for Clinton.

On West Broad Street, the scruffy main drag, one passes a billboard for Spanish legal services, a Latina beauty salon and storefronts that reflect the city’s German, Polish, Italian and Irish roots.

Just past them, Obama Girl’s mom, Roseann Ettinger, is tapping her savings to keep her vintage clothing and jewelry shop, called Remember When, afloat.

The store used to be open daily; now it’s open only on Saturdays and by appointment. Foot traffic waned as longtime businesses closed and immigrant-related crime troubled old-timers. Meanwhile, high oil prices took their toll; between the Ettingers’ nearby home and the store space, the cost of a month’s heat approaches $3,000.

Photos of their daughter Amber Lee Ettinger, 26, better known as Obama Girl, plaster the store’s walls. In them she’s modeling her mom’s 1960s and 1970s outfits. People call or drop by to say they saw Amber on TV – and Roseann Ettinger thinks about supporting Obama. But she’s apathetic.

“Nothing appeals to me about what I’ve heard yet” from any of the candidates, she said.

Husband Terry Ettinger is a registered Republican, but the veteran is “very disappointed” in his party. He admires John McCain’s military background but not his immigration stance. He likes Obama’s speeches but worries that there isn’t enough substance beneath the rhetoric.

-By Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. – A report Wednesday from the NPD Group, a New York-based market research firm, reveals that 72 percent of the U.S. population played videogames last year, up from 64 percent in 2006.

And among the people playing games, 58 percent said they played online.

The online participation included everything from children’s game sites and casual word, card and puzzle games to the hard-core role-playing games such as “World of Warcraft” and online racing and combat games through consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The number of online gamers relative to the total U.S. population is 42 percent so far this year, up from 40 percent in 2007.

In breaking down the online participation, NPD reported that “The PC platform continues to be the driving force in online gaming, with 90 percent of online gamers stating they use a PC to play games online, 19 percent claiming they use a video game system (console or portable) and 3 percent claiming they use a cell phone.

“Four out of 10 online gamers are ages 2-17, driven heavily by kids ages 6-12. Kids ages 2 to 12 are driving more than 25 percent of online gaming, while 18-24 year olds only represent 10 percent of online gaming.”

For perspective on how people are using the latest video-game consoles – Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii – the report noted, “At this point in the lifecycle of today’s video game consoles, multiple console ownership is low, with only 3 percent reporting that they own two of the three ‘next-gen’ systems and only 2 percent claiming to own all three systems.”

The breakdown on console online play, according to the report: “Xbox 360 is the top system used, with 50 percent stating they play games online via that system. On average, Xbox 360 owners spend the most time per week using their 360s to play games online, followed by PC and PS3 owners using these respective systems for online game play. (Thirteen) percent of online gamers spend 20 hours or more per week on online gaming.”

Along with the report, NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement: “Despite the buzz in the industry regarding online gaming, it is still relatively small compared to offline gaming. There is still a large, untapped market for gaming in general and online gaming in particular.”

-By Mike Antonucci, San Jose Mercury News