Lipitor commonly prescribed medication in the US is now available in generic form

Lipitor, the most frequently prescribed medication in the US, which is used to control cholesterol levels, is now available in generic form.  The generic for Lipitor, call Atorvastatin, was released today by Watson.  In these tough economic times, this will be a magnificent help to the millions of people in the US that are presently prescribed Lipitor.  To switch from the brand to the generic you will need to ask your doctor to write a prescription for the generic. The good news doesn't stop here; you can use your Global Benefit Options Discount Rx card or Free Prescription Discount Card to save even more on Atorvastatin.  Pricing varies at different pharmacy locations so be sure to use the Pharmacy Price Search to find the lowest price in your area.

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What are challenges for US Medical Tourism?

Inbound Health Tourism or medical tourism to the US means where hundreds of thousands of medical patients from other countries travel to the US for healthcare. Servicing foreign patients can be a money-making line of trade for US hospitals, particularly when dealing with non-insured cash paying patients. Patients roaming to the US for healthcare are either cash paying patients or enclosed by a global health insurance policy. While in the past many patients were cash paying, more and more foreign patients moving to the US for medical tourism are coming through health insurance policies. The expansion of global health insurance policies is driven by rising middle and upper classes in up coming countries, the alertness of the high quality, superior medical treatment and care, and the transparency of US hospitals.

With the quick globalization of healthcare and the need for high quality healthcare growing globally, many countries are seeing huge investment in the healthcare sector; health cities and modern high quality hospitals and healthcare facilities are being updated in every country around the world. These modern hospitals and clinic are being created to keep home patients from traveling abroad for healthcare and to also to draw foreign patients across borders. With the global economic crisis, many foreign patients who conventionally may have traveled to the US are finding healthcare solutions locally or in other countries as more and more hospitals are being build and seeking international accreditation. In the future, this could significantly reduce the number of patients traveling to the US for American hospitals which do not persist to market, promote and deliver their brand in overseas marketplaces. Therefore it will be critical for these facilities to develop new strategies for marketing and attracting new sources of health care patient flow.

Now, and even more so in the upcoming time, it is more demanding for hospitals to stand alone on their reputations as more hospitals enter the global marketplace. More affiliations and academic relations are emerging and more internationally accredited and recognized hospitals increase the competition.

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Source:http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com/en/us-medical-tourism.html

Why must US Employers and Insurance Companies apply Medical Tourism?

Medical Tourism term refer to people traveling to another country to receive medical, dental and surgical care while at the same time receiving equal to or greater care than they would have in their own country. They are traveling for medical care because of affordability, better access to care or a higher level of quality of care.

“Domestic Medical Tourism” means people who live in one country and travel to another city, region or state to receive medical, dental and surgical care while at the same time receiving equal to or greater care than they would have in their own home city. They are also traveling for medical care because of affordability, better access to care or a higher level of quality of care.

  Why must US Employers and Insurance Companies apply Medical Tourism?

•    Medical tourism provides a sole chance for employers to get significant savings on major healthcare expenses, such as major surgeries, while providing their employees and dependents a high level of quality of care.

•    Several insurance companies have already providing medical tourism or “pilot” programs in medical tourism such as Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, WellPoint, Swiss Re and others.

•    Many Americans are recognizable with medical tourism and are open to the notion.

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Source:http://www.globalbenefitoptions.com/free-prescription-discount-card.html

Save Your Medical Bills With Medical Tourism.

Nowadays you may have come across stories about the increasing phenomenon of medical and health tourism. Patients move around the globe to find medical procedures for getting an appropriate solution to their health related issues. One must have health insurance since traveling to a foreign country seems like paying less if there’s a real chance for good quality and affordable global health care.


Let’s see what exactly medical and health tourism means for an individual?


What is Medical Tourism?


The term “medical tourism” refers to people traveling outside of their own countries for medical care, surgical procedures and dental treatment. Historically, medical tourists were often wealthy and affluent patients seeking treatments or procedures that were unavailable in their own country or looking to combine cosmetic procedures with some rest and relaxation in an exotic locale.


However, recently, increasing numbers of less-affluent patients have begun traveling abroad in an effort to control the costs of their medical care. As the quality of medical facilities and care in other countries become comparable to those of the U.S., medical tourism has become a viable option for some patients seeking to cut their medical costs. For example, surgery in a hospital in Singapore or Latin America may cost a quarter of what an American hospital my charge. Likewise, an Indian hospital may charge $10,000 for the open-heart surgery that would cost $30,000 in the UK and $100,000 in the U.S. Considering the potential savings, it is not surprising that some patients find it much cheaper to pay the travel costs and travel abroad for their care.


In addition, because of the smaller demand for health services in other countries, wait times for procedures may be significantly shorter than in the U.S. In many cases, a major surgery can be scheduled within a few weeks and sometimes even days, a far cry from the situation in most major American hospitals. Some of the most popular destinations for medical tourism are Singapore, Thailand, Indian, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and South Africa.


Who is a Good Candidate for Medical Tourism?


Medical tourism may be a good way to save money, in many cases a lot of money, but it is not without risks. If you are considering medical tourism, you should carefully consider these risks before traveling abroad:


Licensing and Certification. Most importantly, it is important to consider that other countries may not regulate professional licensing and certification as closely as the United States. As with all treatments and procedures, it is important to inspect the credentials of any physician treating you. If your physician claims to be U.S. trained and/or certified, you should be able to find confirm this information fairly easily from whatever organization he or she claims affiliation with.


You should also check to see whether the hospital and facilities you are considering have received accreditation similar to what you may find in the United States. For Americans, the best-known accreditation group is the Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of the Joint Commission in the U.S., a non-profit organization that accredits U.S. hospitals. Many hospitals which serve international patients have obtained JCI accreditation in an effort to attract more American patients.


Limited Legal Recourse if Things Go Wrong. In the event that the worse case scenario occurs and something does go wrong, you should also consider that you may have very limited legal options. One reason why the cost of medical care in the United States is so expensive is because of the high costs of the malpractice insurance that American physicians carry. Although you can benefit from the lower costs of foreign care if it is successful, if things go wrong, you may find yourself in a foreign country without any ability to seek compensation for malpractice. Even if you are able to win a malpractice case, the doctor or hospital may not have the money, resources or insurance to cover the financial damages that are awarded to you.


You Need Sufficient Follow-Up and Recovery Time. Some hospitals that specialize in medical tourism are in the business of getting patients in and out quickly. If that is the case, you may not receive the follow-up care necessary for your treatment.


You may have to find that follow-up care on your own at home, which may be a pricey proposition as well as an inconvenient on.


In addition, you need to be very mindful of having sufficient recovery time after receiving treatment. Traveling too soon after surgery can cause serious complications. If you fly, the combination of high altitudes and sitting for long periods of time can cause blood clots and pulmonary embolisms, which are both potentially fatal. Less seriously, you risk swelling and infections. If you have surgery in a foreign country, make sure you do your homework on what kind of recovery time is required before you risk travel.


Exposure to Disease. As with whenever you travel to a foreign country, you do risk exposure to diseases to which you have not built up any immunity. Some countries, such as India, Malaysia, or Thailand have very different infectious disease-related epidemiology to Europe and North America. Exposure to diseases without having built up natural immunity can be a hazard for weakened individuals, specifically with respect to gastrointestinal diseases (e.g. Hepatitis A, amoebic dysentery, paratyphoid) which could weaken progress, mosquito-transmitted diseases, influenza, and tuberculosis


Medical Tourism and Health Tourism consultancy are offered by Global Benefit Options.GBO is a skilled medical tourism consultant with wide industry relationships with insurance companies, brokers and hospitals globally. For more information visit http://www.globalbenefitoptions.com
BY: Vishal Shrama

Important things to Consider before Medical Travel or Medical Tourism

Now days, individuals or even  corporate  have taken  radical steps to save with the high cost of medical care in some countries such as the United States by considering medical tourism, oversee surgeries and medical travel. Many have visited to other destinations or countries to get health care healing at a lower price. This is known as medical travel, health care tourism or medical tourism. In other type of cases individuals in developing or poorer countries travels to a richer country to get medical treatment that is not accessible in their own country. An another motive for medical travel is to go from a country with long waits for some treatments as happens sometimes with national medical care to one with less waiting. Following are few reasons one should consider before setting up medical travel and health tourism.

Firstly, people of expensive medical cost countries, like United States and United Kingdom in specific, can save a lot of medical bills with oversee treatment. Surgeries in India, Cost Rica and Mexico are many times cheaper than in the USA, and the same is valid of many other countries. The expensive can be quite noteworthy, especially for treatment that are not covered by medical insurance, or for individuals who are not insured.

Secondly it is becoming frequent for medical insurance companies, agents or employers who want to cut medical expensive to encourage their consumers or employees to practice medical tourism. In this way they can save a lot of funds this way. They may pay partial refunds, or at least cover transportation and housing.

Thirdly, if someone is worried about the standards of medical care oversees; there is good amount assistance and information available. Many international associations and agencies, including the medical tourism associations study medical care facilities, infrastructure and hospitals around the world. They have grant accreditation to many international centers. The standards of medical treatment are a very complicated issue and may differ a lot within a country or states. Accreditation given to international medical centers at least provides some comfort in knowing there is a lower bound on the worth of an accredited facility. 

Fourthly, be cautions that it may be hard or not possible to get reparation for misconduct in some medical centers in different countries. Occasionally misconduct claims are not permissible or very incomplete. In some cases, a negligence suit may be likely, but it may be very tricky to collect if you even win. Negligence should be exceptional, but it is fine to understand that the covers one has at home might not exist abroad.

Lastly, medical tourism and medical travel has some risks of its own. You might come across some diseases that are seldom if ever present at home. Communicable disease during recovery from operation or other treatments is a risky fixation. But the good thing is that medical care staff in the area you are visiting are certainly familiar with the diseases you could catch while there.

There are even risks from the general traveling. The idiom economy class condition refers to the danger of developing blood clots in the lower body due to being seated and unmoving during a long plane flight. Traveling while recovering from surgery raises the risk of this. This is also the one of the factor to consider when thinking about health travel.

Medical Tourism and Health Tourism may be best alternative for many people, for non-emergency treatments of course. It is regularly used for hip, joint and knee replacement or dental surgery. Cosmetic treatment is another possibility. There are medical tourism consultants and facilitators who could provide guidance at every level. They can guide you about the options available in popular medical tourism destinations. These medical tourism consultants act much like a travel agency and set almost the whole things up for you.

Source: http://health.ezinemark.com/important-things-to-consider-before-medical-travel-or-medical-tourism-32046ad330a.html

What Is Medical Tourism and Heath Tourism?

Medical tourism or Health Tourism (also called medical travel) is the term mainly populated by transport agencies or agents to inform the rapidly growing work of roaming abroad to other countries to acquire medical treatment. It as well refers critically to the work of health care providers wandering internationally to broach health care facilities.
As per the latest survey "Medical Tourism in developing countries like India, Poland, and Mexico", medical tourism in developing countries has emerged as the top growing section of the tourism industry, despite the global economic downturn. The medical tourism industry holds enormous prospective and will be mainly driven by improving tourism & medical infrastructure, increasing accessibility of quality health care services, and low health care costs in developing countries. Many factors such as low cost, government support, and high private investments have contributed to a remarkable growth in the medical tourism market in developing countries.

Can a Captive Program set you free?

Many employers are faced with the rapidly growing cost of health insurance, second only to payroll.  The average cost for family coverage is almost $13,000 a year.  Larger employers are capable of taking control of their costs because most of them are self insured.  Since this allows for transparency, large employers can implement wellness programs targeted at what their true problems are.

Most mid-sized employers are fully insured and do not have the product options that their larger counterparts have available.  They do not know what claims they have or where their premium dollars go.  The lack of transparency prevents them from taking control of the cost of health insurance.

So how can mid-sized employers change what they are doing?  They can form what is called a captive program.  A captive can be formed by a group of employers in an effort to reduce the costs associated with providing health benefits to their employees.  These employers can come from a wide variety of backgrounds including existing risk retention groups, trade associations, franchises, portfolio companion of private equity firms, and clients of an agency or broker.  Employers have been using captive programs for workers compensation for years with high success.

They are a tool to help employers gain more control over their health insurance and reduce its costs.  A captive program must be coupled with a long term commitment to reducing cost drivers.  Implementing wellness programs and medical tourism programs are ways to address cost control measures.


Read more @ http://www.selffundingmagazine.com/article-detail.php?issue=issue-5&article=captive-program

Modern Hospital Guangzhou China & Medical Tourism China

Modern Hospital Guangzhou possesses cancer treatment center, cosmetic & plastic surgery center, infertility treatment center, and hepatopathy center. The hospital is made up of a strong professional team of well-known experts, professors and returnee doctors, who are able to master the most advanced diagnostic and treatment methods for all medical tourism patients

Based on its five-star services, humanistic care and patient centeredness, Modern Hospital Guangzhou is one of the biggest hospitals in Guangdong Province that provides services for foreign patients who come from South Asia, Middle east, Africa, Europe and America and it is the first to advocate the green nursing care concept “one patient, one doctor and one nurse”.

Modern Hospital Guangzhou has set up clinical & medical departments of Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery, Gynecology, Andriatrics combined with Chinese and Western medicine, Oncology, Bone traumatology and orthopedics, Internal Medicine as well as paramedical units of medical imaging center and clinical laboratory center. Furthermore, Digital Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery, Gynecology, Andriatrics, Minimally invasive treatment for complicated malignant tumor and the stem cell transplantation have been developed as its well-known specialities