subject: Medical Tourism -- A Growing Trend in the USA [print this page] Medical Tourism from the USA is a trend that is growing every year. By some estimates, US consumers are already spending as much as One Billion ($1B) USD on Medical Tourism. Why are consumers adopting this seemingly radical idea in such extreme numbers? Consumers get very resourceful when they know they need medical care but for any number of reasons are being denied access to care. Here are a couple of stories that put the need for medical travel in better detail:
Who Decides What Procedures are Necessary? A construction worker falls on the jobsite and injures his knee. After the swelling subsides, he learns that he has torn his MCL. He can still walk, but his knee feels unsteady. While he has insurance, the insurance company will not pay for MCL reconstruction, saying that it is not necessary surgery. But for this construction worker, a fully functioning knee is a priority and after arguing for a while with the insurance company, he decides to explore his options. Like many people in the USA, he considers Medical Tourism. After doing his research, he travels with his wife to Costa Rica to have his MCL repaired, receives world-class treatment from world class surgeons and receives excellent pre and post-surgery care at a recovery resort with 24-hour nursing and an in-house physical therapy center. At the end of his week in Costa Rica, he a repaired knee at half of what it would have cost him in the US and he and his wife are very relaxed. He can't wait to get back to climbing ladders and building houses.
We Know Our Bodies!! One HealthGlobe client was discovering lumps in her breasts on a regular basis. And the protocol as defined by her insurance company was to get a lumpectomy. But after several lump discoveries and several painful lumpectomies, she knew that because of her personal and family medical history, she was at high risk for a more serious diagnosis. She decided that the best way to minimize this risk and stop the seemingly unending, painful lumpectomies was a bilateral mastectomy -- and then get reconstructive surgery to replace the removed breast mass. It is common to have an insurance company deny this type of a claim, and her insurance company did just that. Instead of waiting for the next lumpectomy this client did her research and chose our client decided to consider Medical Tourism from the USA as the optimal option Working with HealthGlobe she was able to help her get the services that she needed. Read her inspiring story, here.
According to Jeff Carter, the CEO of HealthGlobe, medical travel and medical tourism are trends that are based on the basic human need to get well when we are sick. "At HealthGlobe we have an international network and a domestic network of health care providers. Traveling for medical care is a means to an end -- it really is about getting the highest quality care for you at what is almost always a very aggressive cost discount from what you might find in your home area. That is true whether you travel domestically or internationally. It just really is about getting the best care with a physician focused on meeting your needs."
Medical Tourism -- A Growing Trend in the USA
By: Peter Propp
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