What is Medical Travel and What do I save?
July 6th, 2009 Posted by: admin
Medical Travel or Medical Tourism are the terms used to describe what is becoming an increasingly paced practice of travelling internationally, to a variety of parts of the globe to obtain health care.
The practice is generally to receive what would normally be referred to as elective procedures, however, it is becoming more and more popular for people to travel abroad to receive complex specialized surgeries such as hip or knee replacements, heart surgery, transplants, plastic surgery and dental procedures.
The list of countries that have identified Medical Tourism as their national industry continues to grow apace. Combined with this, there are a number of local companies that specialise in medical travel and will put you in touch with a doctor abroad that practices in your area of need. It is likely you could save further money still, if you were able to cut out this middle man and deal direct with a physician abroad, although depending on the destination, communication may be difficult.
Sample Cost Comparisons
Here are some example savings that can be made on medical procedures:
Heart bypass surgery – normally costs around US$100,000 in the US but can be done for US$12,000 in Thailand.
Knee replacement surgery – normally costs around US$50,000 in the US but can be done for US$10,500 in Costa Rica or for US$5,000 in Columbia.
Hip replacement surgery – normally costs around US$25,000 in the US but can be done for US$7,000 in India, for US$5,500 in Thailand or for US$5,854 in Cuba.
Heart valve replacement surgery – costs around US$200,000 in the US but can be done for US$10,000 in India.
International Medical Travel Desitnations
The three major medical tourism destinations are Thailand, India and Singapore. These most popular destinations are then followed by the three less popular regions of Central America (with Costa Rica pre-eminent), Eastern Europe (led by Hungary) and South Africa. It is worth noting though that at the time of writing, a host of new players were putting themselves in the position to be competitive on the Medical Travel scene.
The continued expansion and growth of discount, budget air carries across the Asian, Latin American and Middle East areas have also have contributed to the boon in medical tourism. Discounted Flights on budget carriers are leading people to travel abroad for increasingly cheaper medical care. The list of countries who accommodate these medical tourists is ballooning every year due to insatiable demand.
Market Leaders
As mentioned above, India, Thailand and Singapore are clearly the best choices in terms of price, capability and quality, while Central America and Eastern Europe should generally be considered by those who need minor procedures or don’t want to subject themselves to what they might deem a lengthy trans-Pacific journey. Although, the flight time from Asia to the Western States, when compared to Europe and the Eastern states is negligible.