Medical tourism. It is a phrase that has began to make the rounds within the last decade with increasing frequency, and while some people may concentrate on its general meaning just by the self-explanatory nature of the phrase itself, not everyone truly grasps just how global the concept really is. In a hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars a 12 months health industry where the rising cost of healthcare within the United States has increasingly more people opting out of carrying medical insurance, increasingly more individuals are looking abroad for his or her solutions.
For example, take Taiwan into consideration. According to an article written by Sarah Tung on July 16, 2010 for Time.com, a liver transplant surgery that costs around $300,000 within the United States only costs around $91,000 on this Asian mega city, transforming her into one in every of the leading medical tourism cities for the twenty first century for savvy international expats.
But Asia shouldn’t be alone in her perch atop the medical tourism mountain of affordability. According to a study put out by the Archives of Internet Medicine, the common cost of heart surgery in Canada is 83% lower than it’s within the United States…yet there is totally no difference within the end result of post-surgery lifestyle and condition whenever you compare the 2 side by side.
Which results in one in every of the largest hurdles currently facing medical tourism: the idea that countries outside of the United States are offering sub-standard look after the lowered price tag. Thankfully, the appearance of worldwide Internet and the globalization of knowledge world wide have helped spread the reality about medical tourism to expats from all walks of life, which is you could get the very same procedures and surgeries performed in countries world wide…for a fraction of the value it could cost you back within the U.S.
The reality of the twenty first century is that each major city on the planet has access to first-class medical facilities, and the doctors and staff who’re working in these facilities will not be backwater surgeons. They go to the identical schools and universities because the doctors you’re used to coping with, and the international standards for hygiene and patient care are only as stringent in places just like the European Union as they’re within the United States. And just as you possibly can confirm the credentials of your surgeon back home (as any discerning client will do, together with asking for second and third opinions), you possibly can just as easily confirm the qualifications of any doctor you choose to work with abroad when utilizing medical tourism to your advantage.
With a rising cost of healthcare that sees increasingly more Americans every 12 months selecting to opt out of the medical insurance program and select a life abroad as an expat somewhat than pay the ridiculous fees, there’s a reason why the medical tourism industry is barely continuing to grow. Countries like Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Bulgaria are only a handful of examples of places where you possibly can travel and have access to low cost, universal systems which can be also paired with private healthcare. Bulgaria, for instance, has a non-public system that costs around $25 per thirty days to access, or you should use the universal plan for a mere 6 leva per thirty days (the equivalent of 4 USD as of January, 2012). Meanwhile, Colombia’s national system only costs around $250 per 12 months when put next against the United States with their monthly policies that may be double or triple the annual fee of the South American country.
At the top of the day, medical tourism is just one in every of many explanation why location independent expats are selecting to live abroad somewhat than stay at home. When combined with the undeniable fact that the price of living is a fraction of what it’s back home, it just is smart from a health and wellness perspective to live somewhere where you will have access to world-class medical care that does not cost an arm and a leg. And until the United States can offer a comparative price package, increasingly more people will proceed to travel abroad for his or her healthcare needs.
