Medical Tourism: Participation Of American Patients In Global Medical Tourism Industry On The Rise

July 12, 2007 by Scott P. Williams [mailto:swilliams@perfuse.org]

The participation of American citizens in the booming global “medical tourism” industry is rapidly increasing and evolving as health care costs within the United States continue to rise.

A decade ago American demand for foreign medical procedures consisted mainly of surgeries that insurance companies were not willing to cover (cosmetic, plastic, and other elective surgeries). A patient residing in the U.S. would travel to a “destination hospital” in a country such as Mexico or India. After having the procedure done at a fraction of the price charged in the U.S., patients enjoyed the additional benefit of a tropical location. Although many medical care providers and medical associations have spoken out against vacation/surgical packages, such as the America Society of Plastic Surgeons, the savings and beach time outweigh the possible medical consequences for many.

Today many individuals still travel to foreign nations for a medical treatment/vacation hybrid, but they are being joined by a large number of patients receiving life-saving procedures. As noted by health care expert Josef Woodman in a recent HealthDay News article, the current overall increase in the number of American medical tourists “is being driven by rising U.S. health-care costs” and the “growing numbers of uninsured and under-insured Americans.”   The combination of these two trends also helps to explain the increase in the number of Americans going abroad to receive more serious, life-saving procedures.

If price is the predominant factor in a patient’s decision of where to have their life-saving procedure performed, then a trip abroad may be the way to go. According to medicaltourism.com, if a patient without insurance was in need of a heart valve replacement surgery they could have the procedure performed in the U.S. for $160,000, or they could travel to India where the procedure costs $9,000. If travel arrangements to India prove too difficult, Thailand and Singapore can serve as viable alternatives with prices of $10,000 and $12,500, respectively, for the same heart valve replacement surgery. Even when travel expenses such as rental cars, flights, food and lodging are factored in, the amount saved by the patient can be enormous.

Individual consumers, though, have not been the only ones to key in on the benefits offered by foreign hospitals. As American insurance companies are under increasing pressure to keep their clients’ health care costs down, they are beginning to penetrate the medical tourism industry. According to HealthDay News, Health Net of California “provides access to health care for their insured Latino participants for services conducted across the border in Mexico” through its Salud con Health Net program. Similarly, portions of BlueCross/BlueShield have added the Indian-based Wockhardt Hospitals and Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand  to their network of participating hospitals.

As the world continues to be flattened by the expansion of the global economy it is still unclear how health insurance companies will utilize the emerging foreign medical market. These programs by BlueCross/BlueShield and Health Net of California represent baby steps into the medical tourism industry. The medical liability and other risks posed by supporting procedures performed in foreign clinics will need to be established in the upcoming years. If these test programs prove to be viable and successful, other large insurance companies and HMO’s are sure to follow BlueCross/BlueShield and Health Net of California lead.

Regardless of how American insurance companies react to the emergence of the medical tourism industry, over the next few years a growing number of U.S. citizens will be lured abroad by the high-quality, low-cost health care offered at foreign hospitals.

References

1. http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=605846

2. http://www.plasticsurgery.org/media/briefing_papers/Cosmetic-Surgery-Tourism-Briefing-Paper.cfm

3. http://medicaltourism.com/

4. http://www.healthmedicaltourism.org/