Medical Tourism, Is it safe?
Thursday, October 16th, 2008Medical tourism is a practice that has become more common over the past year, and some health insurance companies are now starting to get on-board with the practice and actually paying bonuses to members who agree to get procedures done in this way.
In short, Medical tourism is the practice of traveling overseas to have medical procedures or surgeries done in order to save money. Over 50 countries have now identified medical tourism as a national industry.
Some health plans are beginning to cover procedures such as heart surgeries, hip/knee replacement and other pricey procedures due to the money that they can save. For example, open heart surgery in the U.S might cost $100,000, but at an accredited hospital in India, the same procedure might cost only $8,500.
As you can see, the economic advantages of medical tourism are clear, but is it safe?
A recent UCLA study compared 33 patients who had kidney transplant surgery overseas vs. 66 who had the same procedure done here in the United States, at the UCLA hospital. The study found that 30% of patients who had the procedure done overseas had kidney rejection vs. 12% for those treated at UCLA. In addition, the rate at which patients needed to be hospitalized due to infection was 3 times higher with the overseas patients.
You can see why medical tourism would be a controversial process for health insurance companies to get involved with. Nevertheless, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina (BCBSSC) has created a subsidiary for medical tourism that maintains an international network of doctors and hospitals covering Thailand, Costa Rica, Ireland, Turkey and other destinations. In addition, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, will roll out a medical-travel benefit with one of the employer groups they cover in January of 2009.
