Medical Tourism Packages
A recent article in the
health policy journal Health Affairs illustrated how high medical bills
were the primary cause of bankruptcies in the United States.
 
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This, along with the rising
cost of health care services and the more than 43 million Americans
lacking sufficient health insurance has lead to the growth of a global
multibillion dollar industry known as medical tourism. Medical tourists
are patients who travel abroad for crucial or elective medical
procedures.
The size of the medical
tourism industry is starting to attract the attention of many insurance
companies who are beginning to consider offering low-cost overseas
procedures as options in employers’ benefits packages.
Dr. Arnold Milstein, chief
physician and national health care leader for Mercer Health &
Benefits says, “I wouldn’t be surprised if 10 years
from now, a majority of large employers’ health plans had
added non-US hospitals to hospital networks serving US
enrollees.”
The private US health
insurers Blue Cross and Blue Shield already provide coverage for its
clients treated at Wockhardt Hospitals in India.
MedRetreat, a company based
in Illinois, is positioning itself to provide services to self-insured
companies for procedures over $6,000. In addition, it is seeking to
partner with small insurance companies to provide packages through
employers’ health plans.
A niche market has
developed within the travel industry as a result of the growth in
global medical tourism. Planethospital.com and MedRetreat are two such
agencies which assist clients in developing vacation-type packages.
These all-inclusive packages consist of airfare, transportation,
lodgings before and after the procedure, the procedure itself and
occasionally even sightseeing.
GlobalChoice Healthcare
located in New Mexico, doesn’t offer sightseeing. They also
choose not to use the term “medical tourism” opting
instead to refer to itself as a medical travel company. It has one
insurance agency committed to utilizing its services with more expected
to follow.
Medical tourism packages
appeals to those with a sense of adventure and help to make necessary
medical procedures more exciting. The companies that offer medical
tourism packages can also provide discretion – something
traditionally sought by cosmetic surgery patients.
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