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Health plans begin to cover medical tourism

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Open Heart Surgery
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For years, U.S. employers have been looking for ways to save money on healthcare costs by having their employees' high-ticket procedures done far more cheaply offshore. Those who have attempted this, to date, have made the overseas travel entirely voluntary, and have even offered their employees a cut of what can be very substantial savings. While some employees--and unions--have argued that this could be a "slippery slope" leading to forced overseas care, many have liked the idea.

Now, under pressure from both employers and patients, health plans are very slowly starting to get into the act, too. A small but increasing number of health plans are beginning to pay for medical tourists who travel abroad to get expensive procedures done, with some even paying bonuses to patients who agree to do so. This certainly makes economic sense when, say, open-heart surgery that costs $100,000 in the U.S. can be done at an accredited Indian hospital for $8,500. Plans are covering heart surgeries, hip and knee replacements and other pricey surgical procedures.

Some plans are actually going into the medical tourism business with both feet, in fact. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of South Carolina 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. Others are partnering with employers to offer such plans. For example, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, a unit of WellPoint, will roll out a medical-travel benefit with Serigraph Inc. of Wisconsin in January. Serigraph's 700 workers will get incentives to travel to a hospital in India for certain elective surgeries.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this Wall Street Journal piece

Related Articles:
Medical tourism or global healthcare?
Middlemen take uncertainty out of medical tourism
Patients, Employers Choose Overseas Care
Union blocks firm's India care plans

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I know people who work as highly-placed administrators in several of the top teaching hospitals in the Northeast US. They tell me that they regularly receive as patients members of the wealthiest and most powerful families from virtually every Third World country ( the common people of those countries are poor, the leaders are not). These folks obviously DO NOT utilize the services of their indigenous medical establishment for any serious medical treatment, so why should we have to?
This is just more of anything goes to put a few extra dollars into the pockets of our insurance companies.
Its one thing to send me poisoned dog food (China) or sub-standard prescription drug ingredients (India), its quite another to force me to go to those countries and risk my life under the care of poorly-trained and poorly-equipped foreign physicians.
Haven't the last few weeks taught us anything about the mentality of Big Business when it comes to making a few extra bucks?
If there is anyone out there who thinks this is a great idea, please contact me; I've got a great deal for you on some FNMA and Freddie Mac preferred stock.
Howard

We continue to send jobs overseas, and I have heard it said that at least nurses will have jobs since they can't be replaced. Well, guess what....you can be replaced. So what h\jobs will be left for us in this country?

What jobs will be left in the country? There are jobs in the insurance industry and legal profession. And, of course, in politics where politicians play with our lives. I believe, the foremost duty of the government is to take care of the basic needs of it's people. And that includes healthcare. Obviously, the greed of the insurance and legal industries do not think so. And our elected politicians agree with them.

The problem starts w/ the greed of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies that is running the show in this country. In ASIA (third world country you call it)doctors are not millionaires and don't have million dollar homes and they do not overschedule their patients to rack up more money. The quality of the care is above and beyond just like the Asian doctors and nurses here in the US. The hospital standards and equipments are way more modern than in the US and again they don't get paid by the hour they are paid by salary and they don't complain and happy to have a job. Asians are very compassionate people and used to caring for their elderly (Close Family ties) and don't practice sending their old parents to a Care Home facilities beacuse of no time (an excuse,you have to make time!!). Asians want to see their family close to them (why not). They are happy to help everybody w/ very little appreciation. The truth is that, Americans are not satisfied and not happy of what they are, who they are and what they have. Change is important in your daily life, so now is the time to change. If you have not been to Asia, do not be skeptical because people are warm and friendly,very accommodating and hospitable. Start a conversation, they tend to be shy and timid thinking that they might not undersand the (slang) American English due to being trained the proper way of speaking English. Do not use your slang American way, be fluent. I am proud of who I am. They will heal you, not kill you.

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