Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Drishtikone

Home
Hindu
Alternatives to Health Insurance: Medical Tourism

Alternatives to Health Insurance: Medical Tourism

Last updated on: February 18, 2009 at 8:33 pm by Desh Kapoor

Alternatives to Health Insurance: Medical Tourism 2009-02-18T20:33:24-06:00 Desh Kapoor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I had started this series which looked at ways to obviate the negative effects of losing the Health Insurance at an old age due to job loss or other reasons. Not all the alternatives we discuss will be applicable to all, but I am hoping that some of the alternatives may be a fit for someone’s needs. It is obviously based on individual needs and requirements.

Here is the next in the series: Medical Tourism. In recent years it has become big. What is it? Medical Tourism is the practice of “practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care.”

Typically such health care needs catered to from abroad include the elective procedures like joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. However, one could access a host of other health care from Psychiatry to Alternative treatment to even Burial services. Some of the popular destinations for Medical Tourism are:

Argentina
Brazil
Costa Rica
India
Malaysia
Mexico
Panama
Philippines
South Africa
Thailand
Turkey

Obviously, all of these countries do not cater to all the care needs. Some are good at some areas and others at something else.

For example Argentina is a great destination for Cosmetic Surgery. A country One out of 30 people have had some type of cosmetic surgery and a country which leads the world in that procedure is a great place to go for such procedures.

India, on the other hand, could be a good place for heart surgery. The Escorts Heart Institute, for example, performs over 15,000 operations each year while maintaining a mortality rate that is actually less than half of that in many U.S. and European hospitals. The costs could be 10% of that in the US. So, for those elderly who need a by-pass and can travel to India, there is a hope at much lower cost!!

What are the risks?

There are some risks in this area. Let us know them as well:

1. Regulation. Medical professions in some of these destination countries lack regulation with respect to the certification and licensing compared the US and European standards. It does not mean that the doctors are not always qualified. They may be more qualified than your own physician.. but you need to check on the credentials of the particular doctor you are going to visit. Usually, you could check with your own hospital and see if any doctor of with origins in a particular country can recommend you to some expert he knows and trusts best!

2. Legal recourse. If something, god forbid, goes wrong, then in some countries you have little legal recourse. Probably, that is why the health care is so much cheaper in that country, as the lawyers in the US have completely messed up the insurances of the doctors and the hospitals making health care really expensive!

3.. Hygiene and Recovery. In some countries the hygiene may not be of the same standard as the US or Europe. Also, there may not be enough emphasis on recovery after surgery. Make sure you can get living areas that are safe and clean and you insist on the recovery aspect and build enough time in your travel towards that.

4. Track Record. While some facilities have great record in some areas, all are not alike. And in most countries you will not find a reliable accreditation agency that you can depend upon. So enquire. Talk to others who have gone on such trips .. people whom you can trust and not a travel agent.

5. Tourism and Travel. It is Medical Tourism. So do not forget the Tourism aspect of it. Make sure you have schedule that piece properly and it does not interfere with your medical procedure.

Growing up

A few trends are interesting.

1. More and more foreign hospital chains are affiliating with the US hospital majors. For example,

Harvard (India’s Apollo Hospital)
Cleveland Clinic (facilities in Canada, Vietnam, Austria, and the UAE)
Johns Hopkins (Panama’s Hospital Punta Pacifica and Singapore’s International Medical Centre).

2. Companies have started offering regular Health Insurance packages that include Medical Tourism! For example Hannaford Bros. Co., a northeastern US organic grocery chain, offers medical tourism as a health benefit for employees who need hip or knee replacement.

They have been working with the National University Hospital , Singapore for this service, in coordination with Aetna who provides the administrative services for this benefit.

Hannaford covers the entire medical bill including deductibles and copays, and travel for the patient and a companion. Soon more and more employers may start doing this kind of deals to lower the costs.

Maybe individuals should also explore ways to get such packages from the existing insurance companies in the US!

In the end, you need to know that this can be part of your portfolio of “health care alternatives”.

Health & Medicine

Previous Post

February 18, 2009

Shallum Xavier by Desh

Next Post

February 18, 2009 Procrastination: THE Results Killer!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which parable features a man building on rock versus sand?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Wise and Foolish Builders The Talents The Sower The Workers in the Vineyard