One of the biggest reasons for the increased popularity and growth of the medical tourism industry is the high cost of healthcare in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
This is a trend seen in countries like the United States where healthcare costs have been rising over the years despite people signing up for private health insurance.
There are many disadvantages to private medical insurance in the United States. For one thing, health insurance monthly premiums can be as high as $1000 a month (or even higher) for a family plan.
The other problem is that often the insurance company limits which providers you can see and which services or treatments you qualify for.
This means that often, pre-authorization is needed for procedures, which takes time and you may even be denied coverage.
Most private health insurance companies in the past were HMO or PPO systems, and although the PPO was slightly better in terms of how many doctors you could visit, there were still limitations.
You generally are only allowed to visit in-network physicians and clinics in both HMO and PPO systems. This can mean long waiting times to get procedures done.
The other problem, of course, is that many medical procedures may be deemed by your health insurance provider to be not medically necessary. Even though you can appeal such decisions, odds are you will not gain coverage and so any cosmetic procedure will be unlikely to be covered.
The shocking reality is that many people in the United States become bankrupt due to medical costs with insurance companies also placing lifetime limits on how much they pay out.
This means if you have a chronic illness that is expensive, you are at risk of serious financial problems. The odds of this happening are quite high especially as a person ages and is more likely to get cancer and need expensive treatments.
Although the United States does have some social support services in the form of social security, medicare and medicaid, these systems are also limited in how much money they release and how much support they give you over your lifetime.
The government may also decide where and when you can get treatment and from who. This becomes a problem and can result in a delay which further jeopardizes your healthcare.
The cost of medical care in the United States is often significantly higher than in other countries, which has spurred the growth of medical tourism by Americans.
Many Americans travel to Canada, Mexico or Brazil for cosmetic procedures such as liposuction or breast augmentation. The quality of care can vary tremendously though, and even though everything may work out okay, there are horror stories of people with botched procedures.
It is a case of buyer beware, because a very cheap clinic may have a bad record and may not even have qualified staff performing a procedure. On the other hand, there may be excellent clinics and physicians performing affordable work in these same countries.
The United Kingdom has a different type of health coverage compared to the United States, which is provided by the government and is called the National Health Service.
The advantage of this system is that it is paid for by taxation and everybody in the country receives coverage. The disadvantage of this system is that there may be long waiting times and once again, cosmetic procedures are unlikely to be covered.
Cosmetic work includes hair transplant surgery; dental work such as crowns, implants, and dental veneers; various body sculpturing procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation and reduction, nose jobs and butt lifts.
The costs of cosmetic procedures such as those just mentioned are very high in the United Kingdom because it is almost always the case that you have to pay out of pocket costs.
This high cost is the number one reason that UK residents look into medical tourism as a viable option for getting medical procedures done.
One of the most popular places to go for cosmetic work is Turkey, which has many first rate medical clinics and internationally accredited professionals ready to help you.
You can find out more about the pros and cons of the UK when it comes to cosmetic procedures such as hair transplant procedures by visiting the Vera Clinic.
Turkey is in a good location for many medical tourists and has the experience in dealing with foreign customers.
Regardless of where you go to have your work done you should be very careful to choose an accredited clinic with qualified specialists.
Belize has once again pioneered another gateway to attracting more visitors and investors to our country, which is, through the emergence of Medical Tourism.
Under BELTRAIDE’s Compete Caribbean Project, component two (2) entails the identification of two priority sectors for investment. One of the identified priority sectors is Medical Tourism.
There is certainly great potential for this industry to boom and create employment for Belize, whilst increasing its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
In early August 2012, a workshop on Medical Tourism was coordinated, with the objective to create awareness of the new industry and to determine the receptiveness of Belize’s stakeholders.
The workshop was held at the George Price Center in the City of Belmopan and stakeholders from both the medical and tourism industries participated in the event.
It was considered an information sharing session which allowed stakeholders the opportunity to voice their opinion on the idea of Medical Tourism.
Molly McKenna was in agonizing pain last January when her fiancé rushed her to a Baylor Scott & White clinic in Austin, Texas.
"The doctor came in and said, 'Your ovary is a big hemorrhaging mess right now. We have to take that out,'" McKenna said.
One of her ovaries was twisting inward, cutting off the blood supply.
"It just got to the point where I could barely breathe," McKenna said.
She was transferred by ambulance to a larger Baylor Scott & White hospital for surgery. At each stop, the staff took her private insurance card. Yet a few weeks later, she was told much of her treatment was out-of-network. She owed more than $40,000.
"I remember crying. I was very upset," McKenna said.
Insurance broker Lora Everist, who sold McKenna her insurance policy, said paying cash would have been cheaper.
"Nobody gave her the option to pay cash or self-pay," Everist said.
Everist said McKenna's insurance paid over $6,000 for the surgery. McKenna negotiated a few bills down, but Baylor Scott & White still wants $27,000 more.
Because there is no guideline. There is no transparency. They can charge whatever they want, Everist said.
Baylor Scott & White responded, saying its facility charges are lower than other acute care hospitals in the region.
But this case shows what they call an opportunity for improvement, and they now say they'll be contacting McKenna to work toward solving her problem.
There are a few things patients can do when faced with a medical emergency. First, find out now which hospitals are close to you that are in your network. Next, if it's not a life-threatening emergency, consider a cheaper walk-in or urgent care center.
If you wind up in the emergency room, ask, or have someone with you ask, if the doctors treating you are in your network.
No one really knows what anything costs in health care — and too many people are getting surprise medical bills for thousands of dollars. In a new series, Medical Price Roulette.
The recent Mexico’s assertion as North America’s medical tourism powerhouse has been possible due to several centers of excellence that offer patients ease of access to main medical tourism destinations and provide special attention from highly trained staff at lower costs.
Medical tourism industry has continued to experience a steady growth, especially in Mexico.
This influx of travelers seeking medical care has to do with world class medical attention, highly trained surgeons, specialized practitioners and top tier certified hospitals keen to treat foreigners.
Millions of post bariatric surgery patients around the world have successfully improved their overall health, turned their life around and kept the weight off. As far as bariatric procedures continue to prove successful overtime, their adoption and popularity will also rise.
Nevertheless, for many bariatric candidates in the United States, Canada and many countries in Europe, surgery comes at such a high price tag that traveling to Mexico for bariatric surgery has become a high quality, price conscious, accessible alternative.
Mexico offers patients abroad an unrivaled global strategic location, reachable by plenty of direct flights from the United States, Canada and some European countries.
Dr. Alejandro Lopez, chief bariatric surgeon at ALO Bariatrics started operations in 2008 in three convenient locations: Tijuana, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta; his approach to the industry is creative yet simple.
Provide bariatric candidates, comprehensive and seamless access to world class health care in certified hospitals; at a fraction of the price than in the United States and Canada.
For ALO Bariatrics, choosing its locations was only a matter of providing their patients the ease and comfort they’re accustomed to:
Tijuana can be easily reached by land from the neighboring southern states of California, Arizona and Nevada; Guadalajara services countless direct flights from up and down the East Coast of the United States; and Puerto Vallarta offers numerous connections to most of Canada’s major cities.
ALO Bariatrics’ highly-skilled, internationally-trained and board certified surgeons are handpicked and rigorously screened for their outstanding technical prowess; reason why, they hold an impressive record of more than 6,000 successful bariatric surgeries performed, and the praise of patients for the unrivaled level of care, warmth and professionalism experienced.
Health travellers who visit Malaysia save 65% to 80% on health cost compared to the cost in the US.
Malaysia offers excellent patient comfort with five-star rooms that look more like hotel suites than hospital rooms.
Medical Tourism Malaysia has provided award-winning healthcare facilities to over 4.9 million medical travellers from all over the world.
Reigning as the ‘Destination of the Year’ by the International Medical Tourism journal for 3 consecutive years, we are committed to create and ensure an exceptional healthcare destination experience with limitless possibilities and exceptional quality catered to your needs.
Malaysia has over 70 private healthcare institutions dedicated to give quality cross-border experience.
We all know people love to visit Malaysia for its food, cultural diversity, and heritage spots.
But did you know that Malaysia is one of the top spots for medical travel?
Malaysia was listed as the “Best Country for Healthcare” from 2015 to 2017 by International Living and listed as “Top Asian Country for Retirement” in 2018.
This means people prefer seeking treatment in Malaysia instead of their home countries or other places around the world. Last year alone, Malaysia received over one million medical travelers, with that number on the rise every year.
In the latest Medical Travel Awards 2018, Malaysia won 9 out of 15 awards, more than any other country in the world
These awards were given out by the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ), the world’s leading journal for the medical travel sector.
According to Patients Beyond Borders, medical travelers could save up to 80% on medical expenses, if they opt to do their treatment in Malaysia, which may amount to thousands of ringgit.
Malaysia's location and infrastructure also make it easy for medical travelers to gain access into Malaysia.
What’s more, they would be receiving world-class quality treatment from top hospitals accredited by gold-standard organizations such as the Joint Commission International (JCI).
Tourism Observer
