Insurance

In recent years, we have seen a positive development in the global healthcare industry. Those who aren't closely involved in the medical field might be surprised by these developments as they wouldn't understand the recent surge in the number of global medical tourists. They wouldn't understand the logic between traveling thousands of miles away from you home country and undergoing major medical procedure. However, once looked at more closely, the rise of the phenomena of medical tourism makes perfect sense.

It is a well-known fact that a large portion of medical tourists come from the USA. One of the main reasons people are traveling across American borders for healthcare is the poor condition of the American healthcare system. The American health insurance issue is a well-known problem as many Americans have reached a state where they can afford only minimal medical insurance coverage or none at all due to the high rates. This leads to very high medical bills when medical attention is required, preventing them from receiving adequate care. In fact, it has been documented that 62% of all private bankruptcies were, among other factors, due to medical expenses. Healthcare abroad isn't an option but a necessity as treatment prices are slashed by more than half in most medical tourism destinations.

When viewing major surgeries patients undergo in the states and can undergo in countries like Mexico and India, you see a substantial difference. An American citizen with no insurance that suddenly has to undergo a heart bypass or joint replacement surgery can save literally tens of thousands of dollars undergoing the procedure abroad. It doesn't even have to be a necessary surgery, also dental and cosmetic surgeries are significantly lower abroad. Having surgery abroad is an option that patients with health insurance problems must consider today.

Another problem being addressed by the medical tourism industry is the 'Long Waiting Lists' for surgery. This is a problem that exists today in Canada and the UK for example, as many patients are forced to wait for months and sometimes even several years for non-emergency surgical procedures. As these countries have public health services, long waiting lists are formed, forcing patients to wait and sometimes keep on living with pain or on otherwise unnecessary medication. One of the benefits of scheduling treatments abroad is the promptness of the process as there are hardly waiting lists and the patient is the one in control of the waiting period.

Medical tourism also offers patients possibilities that aren't always available for them in their home country. There are procedure and treatments that are forbidden in certain countries (organ transplants and abortions for example) and other treatments that aren't authorized mainly because of bureaucratic processes. These, sometimes crucial, treatments are legal in other countries including for global patients who need them. Procedures like these often save lives due to their availability.

Combine these two huge benefits with encouraging facts like the medical quality and standards in developing countries are constantly rising, transportation methods are always improving and our world has become a global village thanks to the internet, and medical tourism has become a logical and sometimes necessary option for patients. If you are having health issues, do not overlook this possibility.