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.

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

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.

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

The Rising Popularity of Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism is the world used for international travelling patients to avail medical treatments abroad at affordable prices. This is fast becoming the accepted method of availing health care today. The rising costs of medical services and treatments in developed countries and tremendous waiting list can be seen as the obvious reasons for an enhanced state of health tourism in developing countries like India, Thailand, Mexico and Cost Rica.

There is lot of competitions among various nations to tap this industry to earn billions of revenue. In fact there are many valid reasons for the popularity of Medical Tourism like this.

World Class and Better Treatment: Medical Tourism gives you the alternates from selecting among an extensive range and method for the cure of your disease. You can evaluate the costs of the hospitals, medical centers and clinics in the different countries, calculate the travel expenditures and then take a decision what is best suited for you.

Cheap and Affordable: If you believe that traveling overseas would be more costly, and then check again. For the treatments of deadly and complex diseases, which require complicated surgeries, the costs are more in USA or Canada, whereas same treatment cost half in countries like India or Mexico, and that too includes the travelling and other expenditure. This is the reason why medical tourists compare the charge in all the leading international hospitals of the world

Medical Vacation and Travels: The best and the perhaps most appealing point of Medical Tourism is the fact that you get to travel and heal in relaxed ambiance. You can spend the free time relaxing and enjoying yourself after your treatment.

The Rising Popularity of Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism is the world used for international travelling patients to avail medical treatments abroad at affordable prices. This is fast becoming the accepted method of availing health care today. The rising costs of medical services and treatments in developed countries and tremendous waiting list can be seen as the obvious reasons for an enhanced state of health tourism in developing countries like India, Thailand, Mexico and Cost Rica.

There is lot of competitions among various nations to tap this industry to earn billions of revenue. In fact there are many valid reasons for the popularity of Medical Tourism like this.

World Class and Better Treatment: Medical Tourism gives you the alternates from selecting among an extensive range and method for the cure of your disease. You can evaluate the costs of the hospitals, medical centers and clinics in the different countries, calculate the travel expenditures and then take a decision what is best suited for you.

Cheap and Affordable: If you believe that travelling overseas would be more costly, and then check again. For the treatments of deadly and complex diseases, which require complicated surgeries, the costs are more in USA or Canada, whereas same treatment cost half in countries like India or Mexico, and that too includes the travelling and other expenditure. This is the reason why medical tourists compare the charge in all the leading international hospitals of the world

Medical Vacation and Travels: The best and the perhaps most appealing point of Medical Tourism is the fact that you get to travel and heal in relaxed ambiance. You can spend the free time relaxing and enjoying yourself after your treatment.

Global Benefit Option launching a Directory For Insurance Professionals, Employers, & Patients

Caldwell, NJ - Global Benefit Options (GBO) the #1 ranked ‘Medical Tourism Consultant’ in Google officially launched of the GBO International Network Directory (GBO-IN) on September 22, 2010 at the World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress in Los Angeles. This premier directory was developed exclusively for GBO and is the first of its kind in the global healthcare industry. The medical tourism directory will feature medical providers from around the world and promote global healthcare options for individuals, employers, and insurance professionals.


The U.S. Health Care system is in a deepening crisis. Costs continue to increase at near double digit percentage increments annually. Healthcare represents over 16% of the United States Gross Domestic Product. And still over 50 million people are uninsured and more than 15 million additional people are underinsured. GBO works with both employers and insurance professionals to design and implement global solutions to lower healthcare costs.


At Global Benefit Options, we focus on working with Third-party administrators, Associations, Insurance Agents, Insurance Brokers, and Benefit Consultants within the U.S. Health Insurance industry, to integrate medical tourism into their healthcare services: These key decision makers are the influential trusted business advisors for employers who seek healthcare savings. Employers will make benefit decisions based on the recommendation of their Agent, Broker, or Consultant.


Global Benefit Options is the only firm dedicated to working with the insurance industry, founded by an insurance insider. The GBO-IN provider directory is a service that brings the buyers and providers of healthcare: insurance, employers, and patients to a single easy to use, yet powerful resource.