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Financial Savings in Medical Tourism?

One of the fastest growing trends in health care today is medical tourism - traveling to another country or “offshore locations” to get an operation or treatment. Traveling for care is not new, but the boom in medical tourism is phenomenal. Statistics on medical tourists are not collected officially, but the National Coalition of Healthcare estimates 500,000 people left the U.S. for treatments last year; 500,000 international patients will visit India this year infusing $2.2 Billion into its economy; 200,000 patients visited Singapore in 2005; 100,000 visited Malaysia that same year. It’s a $60 Billion Global Business that’s growing 20% a year and it is projected that as many as 750,000 Americans have gone offshore to seek medical care in 2007.

Medical tourism companies are popping up all over the globe, along with their Web sites offering “package trips,” complete with surgery, recovery and vacation. Individual countries - India, the Philippines and Thailand, for example - have their own web sites and market their facilities and services to patients around the globe. Nations regard this activity as highly as tourism itself and seek some of the millions, if not billions, of dollars that will be spent on medical travel in the years ahead.

While medical tourism attracts patients from many countries, experts attribute its growth primarily to the soaring costs of health care in the United States. Its allure now extends well beyond cosmetic procedures that aren’t covered by insurance, to necessary medical procedures. Potential savings of up to 80% from U.S. costs may be saved in other locations, an appealing prospect to those who have no insurance or seek care that insurance doesn’t cover. When you compare estimated prices, it’s easy to see why medical tourism is becoming a popular choice: heart bypass in the U.S. for $130,000, but $10,000 in India; hip replacement in U.S. at $43,000, but $12,000 in Thailand or Singapore; knee replacement in the U.S. at $40,000, but $11,000 in Costa Rica; and hysterectomy in U.S. at $20,000, but $3,000 in India.

Among other advantages are the shorter wait times, care similar to what you might get here, and procedures available that are not yet approved in the United States.

Patients aren’t the only groups lured by this phenomenon. Employers and insurers, beset by ever-increasing health care costs and seeking savings wherever they can, are also capitalizing on the advantages of medical tourism. Some are now encouraging their employees or insureds to seek care overseas when needed, and even paying for travel costs as well as procedures.

Cost for Hip Replacement at U.S. and Offshore Medical Centres
Destination	United States	India	Costa Rica
Cost of Medical Care (Physicians & Facilities)	$40,000	$ 5,400	$ 6,600
Cost to Arrange Care	n/a	$ 800	$ 1,000
Cost of Travel (Patient plus companion)	n/a	$ 2,700	$ 1,200
Cost at Destination (Travel Expenses)	n/a	$ 1,100	$ 1,050
Analysis
Medical Cost	$40,000	$ 5,400	$ 6,600
Medical Savings	$ 0	$34,600	$33,400
Total Cost	$40,000	$10,000	$ 9,850
Total Savings	$ 0	$30,000	$30,150
Total Savings (% of US Value)	0 %	75.0 %	75.4 %
Some data are aggregated and rounded up or down to the nearest $50 increment. Travel costs are based on quotes by a medical tourism agent and confirmed using an online travel web site. Travel costs are for the patient and one confirmed, in economy class from Atlanta to New Delhi, India/ San Jose, Costa Rica. (Source, Medical Toursim Magazine, Issue 1)