Why Medical Tourism is Going to Be a HUGE Issue in the Future

Here are some thoughts from the GREAT book on medical tourism titled Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody's Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism on why medical tourism is going to be a big issue in the future:

As we contemplate our options in an over-burdened US healthcare environment, nearly all of us will eventually find ourselves seeking alternatives to costly treatments -- either for ourselves or for our loved ones. Those patients who take the time to become informed about our changing healthcare world will be pleasantly surprised by a smorgasbord of affordable, high-quality, American-accredited medical options abroad. Those who do not may find themselves grappling with an ungainly, prohibitively expensive healthcare system, and a rising absence of choice.

Look at it this way:

1. Healthcare costs in the US are going nowhere but up.

2. Even if the system is "fixed" it will involve some sort of political compromise that is designed to make all the major interest groups happy -- likely making the system WORSE rather than better.

3. The rest of the world comes to the US to be trained, then goes back home, sets up shop and charges a fraction of what US doctors do to do the same procedure. You get the same treatment for less money.

4. Businesses get behind these doctors and build buildings that more closely resemble a hotel than a hospital when it comes to comfortable accommodations. Except that when it comes to the hospital side of things, their equipment is state-of-the-art.

5. Many of these places are located in exotic places where Americans regularly fly for vacations anyway -- they are nice locations to visit!

Sure, there are issues (what happens if things go wrong?, how can I identify a good medical care facility versus a bad one?, etc.), and we'll cover these in future posts. But for now, all I can say is that we're only seeing the tip of the medical tourism iceberg. It's going to get a whole lot bigger in the future.

Comments

[MoleOnABull]

I would tend to agree with #3, I wouldn't say everyone... but many foreigners do come here to get trained. Those are the doctors I would seek out if I were contemplating the medical tourism option. Again, as I mentioned in yesterdays post, you still should be carefull... or should I say, educated. Research very well about the doctor, the facilities, potential situations, ect.

I am not discouraging this option to anyone... I would likely consider it myself. I just want to stress the importance of knowing what you're getting.

[Chris]

Or we can just fix the system we have here. I don't know what the solution is, but I know my insurance costs as much as my mortgage and I still have to pay copays and for various excluded services.

[Minimum Wage]

Wouldn't this contribute to a price spiral here? Fixed costs would remain the same, while revenue would be lost when patients-who-can go elsewhere.

I have been predicting for years that things here are going to get really ugly for unskilled and poor Americans, but this is one aspect of the decline I had not previously considered.

[Chris]

Why? Poor Americans and illegal immigrants can walk into any hospital and get medical care for free.

The low-middle to middle income Americans, the ones struggling to make it and being honest and contributing to the system, are going to be the ones that lose.

I forget where the article is, but I read that Dallas, TX hospitals lead the pack in providing free pregnancy care and childbirths to non-citizens, something that the lower and middle class Americans pay thousands for if uninsured.

[MoleOnABull]

Chris, you are right on. Middle America (the people shoulder most of this financial burden, with respect to healthcare) stands to lose the most in this whole healthcare situation.

[Minimum Wage]

YES you can "walk into a hospital" and get stabilized. You can't get primary care when you need it until you get really sick.

Today I have a chronic expensive condition which could have been easily prevented with primary care which I went without for 30 years.

[Minimum Wage]

Oh, and when I got to the hospital, I didn't "walk into" it because I wasn't exactly ambulatory.

[Don]

While some of India's surgeons were educated in the west, but fewer and fewer are. However, they are offered fellowships with western hospitals because they are frequently with more experience than their western counterparts.

I am one of three directors of America's Medical Solutions which operates a medical tourism company right here in India, and I said that to let the reader know that the "concerns" mentioned above are far, far less than they need to be. With an infection rates, complications & death rates far, far less than American hospitals where is the fear? I think the only fear should be in trying to become self educated. Use the services of an on sight medical tourism company who know what's going on from a first hand basis. We know these doctors on a first name basis and they are anxious for our referrals. By the way, we do not charge the patient a dime. But the Internet is full of joyful accounts from people who have come to India and are more than happy they did. We specialize in Indian medical tourism, because in addition to the fine medicine available here, we are a "friend" in a far distant and strange land. Don