Medical tourism is a huge market, and it's attracting plenty of interest. Americans—often those uninsured—are flying thousands of miles to exotic locations for medical treatments, lured by lower costs and quality care.
Though most countries boast a number of their own medical specialties, there are eight countries Americans are going to most, says Renee-Marie Stephano, president of the Medical Tourism Association, in West Palm Beach, Fla. In no particular order:
MEXICO
Americans often head south of the border for a couple obvious reasons: It's cost-effective, and it's close.
“Some American patients who are driven by cost will choose to go to Mexico,” Stephano says. “There tends to be lower market value for certain medical procedures.”
Patients Beyond Borders, a consumer resource on medical tourism, says “Monterrey boasts four first-rate American-accredited hospitals offering bariatrics and weight-management programs at 40 percent to 60 percent savings.”
Each year more than 50,000 Americans cross into Mexico just for dental work.
INDIA
Forget the Taj Mahal, a number of Americans want to instead visit a surgeon when they head to India. Consumers can expect to see a savings between 65 percent and 90 percent if they make the trek there, says Patients Beyond Borders.
Consider this: A bypass surgery with heart valve replacement can run $75,000-$140,000 in the United States, but will cost just $9,500 in India, according to the Indian Medical Travel Association. “Amongst all global medical tourism destinations, India undoubtedly offers the best to the world in terms of quality, cost and care,” the organization says.
THAILAND
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
