The Arizona Republic found that many Americans are traveling abroad to get hip replacements and other medical care.
The paper cited a study that says up to 16 million Americans may get medical care abroad in 2015. By some estimates, between 85,000 to 750,000 people a year go outside the U.S. now for health care. (I know that is a big gap in the estimate, but the estimates are hard to come by because they are not reported to a central database.)
Cost is a significant factor, but so is specialized treatment. There are some procedures, for instance, that can be done abroad but not in the U.S.
The Republic reported:
“The share of working-age Americans who are struggling to pay medical bills or have accumulated medical debts jumped to 41 percent in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2005, according to a survey released in August by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation. U.S. Census Bureau figures, also released in August, estimated that 45.7 million Americans lack health-care coverage.
“For such individuals, paying 25 to 80 percent less for medical services in places like Costa Rica, Thailand, India and Singapore is a big draw.”
Of course, most insurance plans don’t cover out-of-the-country, non-emergency treatment. And there can be other problems:
“The American Medical Association, concerned that U.S. patients traveling abroad might not get appropriate care, issued guidelines last year covering medical travel. Among them:
“–Patients should be referred only to institutions that have received international accreditation by such bodies as the Joint Commission International or the International Society for Quality in Health Care.
“–The transfer of patients’ medical records to and from facilities outside the U.S. should be consistent with federal HIPAA guidelines, which protect patients’ privacy.
“–Patients should be informed of their rights and legal options before agreeing to travel outside the U.S. for medical care.”
There are several resources, such as the Medical Tourism Association and MedtoGo.com, that are geared toward helping make medical tourism possible.
