Medical Tourism - Is It Right For You?
As health care costs in the United States continue to rise, it's no surprise that every year more and more Americans seek medical treatment abroad.
While there are many who have never heard of medical tourism or considered it, roughly 750,000 Americans travel to countries outside of the United States for medical treatment every year.
The "invisible hand of the market" will certainly have a great deal to do with that, but could it also be that there is equally high-quality health care to be found outside the borders of the US as within? And substantially cheaper as well? It turns out that, yes, there are many countries where excellent medical services can be found at much more reasonable costs than here in the US.
For decades Americans have been going abroad for dental care, cosmetic surgery, cardiac surgery, treatment for cancer, drug rehabilitation and so on.
Virtually every type of health care need can be met abroad.
Some American employers are actually embracing this as well and encouraging their employees to get treatment abroad and integrating this approach into insurance plans.
Blue Shield of California has had a cross-border health plan since 2000.
Some of the top medical travel destinations are neighbors of the United States, countries including Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and Panama.
Though Cuba attracts tens of thousands of medical tourists each year, for United States citizens it can be a complicated journey.
Mexico and Costa Rica also offer excellent health care for the medical traveler as well as close proximity to the US, without the hassle of traveling to Cuba.
About 500,000 Californians alone visit Mexico for health care every year, and Costa Rica attracts tens of thousands of American health tourists annually.
Interestingly, Costa Rica's overall health service ranking according to the World Health Organization is just above that of the United States, which may be why its health tourism industry has been steadily growing.
Here quality health care can be had at a cost of between 30%-40% of what it would cost at home.
Costa Rica has three JCI (Joint Commission International, which accredits 147 hospitals abroad) accredited hospitals, and it has the only hospital in Latin America that is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Everything from minor dental procedures to drug rehabilitation to cancer treatment to cosmetic surgery is available outside of the Unites States for substantially less money.
The quality of health care rivals that which can be found at home as well, so the question of whether or not medical tourism is right for you will depend on your own individual circumstances.
It might just be that you wouldn't mind visiting a beautiful foreign country while taking treatment in a state-of-the-art facility.
While there are many who have never heard of medical tourism or considered it, roughly 750,000 Americans travel to countries outside of the United States for medical treatment every year.
The "invisible hand of the market" will certainly have a great deal to do with that, but could it also be that there is equally high-quality health care to be found outside the borders of the US as within? And substantially cheaper as well? It turns out that, yes, there are many countries where excellent medical services can be found at much more reasonable costs than here in the US.
For decades Americans have been going abroad for dental care, cosmetic surgery, cardiac surgery, treatment for cancer, drug rehabilitation and so on.
Virtually every type of health care need can be met abroad.
Some American employers are actually embracing this as well and encouraging their employees to get treatment abroad and integrating this approach into insurance plans.
Blue Shield of California has had a cross-border health plan since 2000.
Some of the top medical travel destinations are neighbors of the United States, countries including Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and Panama.
Though Cuba attracts tens of thousands of medical tourists each year, for United States citizens it can be a complicated journey.
Mexico and Costa Rica also offer excellent health care for the medical traveler as well as close proximity to the US, without the hassle of traveling to Cuba.
About 500,000 Californians alone visit Mexico for health care every year, and Costa Rica attracts tens of thousands of American health tourists annually.
Interestingly, Costa Rica's overall health service ranking according to the World Health Organization is just above that of the United States, which may be why its health tourism industry has been steadily growing.
Here quality health care can be had at a cost of between 30%-40% of what it would cost at home.
Costa Rica has three JCI (Joint Commission International, which accredits 147 hospitals abroad) accredited hospitals, and it has the only hospital in Latin America that is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Everything from minor dental procedures to drug rehabilitation to cancer treatment to cosmetic surgery is available outside of the Unites States for substantially less money.
The quality of health care rivals that which can be found at home as well, so the question of whether or not medical tourism is right for you will depend on your own individual circumstances.
It might just be that you wouldn't mind visiting a beautiful foreign country while taking treatment in a state-of-the-art facility.
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