Medical Tourism - Insurers accept, (Time)

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008
Medical Tourism
By Kate Pickert

Time (magazine)

Earlier this month, the insurance company WellPoint announced a program that will allow employees of a Wisconsin printing
company to get coverage for non-emergency surgeries in India. It's a first for
WellPoint, but puts the insurer in good company.

Over the past
few years, U.S. insurance companies — dismayed at losing income
from uninsured Americans who get cheap surergies abroad or clients who choose to
pay out of pocket for discount foreign surgeries rather than expensive
in-network co-pays — have announced plans to include foreign medical
procedures among those covered by health plans.

It's no wonder. The medical tourism industry has experienced massive growth over the past decade. Experts in the
field say as many as 150,000 U.S. citizens underwent medical treatment abroad in
2006 — the majority in Asia and Latin America. That number grew to an estimated
750,000 in 2007 and could reach as high as 6 million by 2010. .... (See TIME's A-Z Health Guide.)

... But surgery abroad is a fairly modern phenomenon. .... (A large percentage of today's medical tourism is for dental work, as much as 40% by some estimates.)

...Thailand is now a destination spot for all types of plastic
surgery as well as a host of routine medical procedures. Bumrungrad
International Hospital in Bangkok is probably Thailand's best-known
mecca for medical tourists, boasting patients from "over 190 countries" and an
"International Patient Center" with interpreters and an airline ticket counter.

In recent years, companies all over the U.S. have sprung up to guide
Americans through the insurance and logistical hurdles of surgery abroad,...

For those who wrinkle their noses at the thought of going under the knife in a foreign, let alone still-developing, country, the American Medical Association introduced a set of guidelines in June for medical tourism.



The AMA advocates that insurance companies, employers and others involved in the medical tourism field provide proper follow-up care, tell patients of their rights and legal recourse, use only accredited facilities, and inform patients of "the potential risks of combining surgical procedures with long flights and vacation activities," among other recommendations.

Joint Commission International, a non-profit that certifies the safety and record of hospitals, has accredited some 200 foreign medical facilities, many in Spain, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.