Medical tourism
originally posted: 11/22/2006 reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If you notice an error or are in doubt, please send a new question by email or ask for an update. Email asktony@tonynovak.com.
Q: My father-in-law says that he is planning a vacation in Europe and southeast Asia and will get dental surgery during the trip because it is less expensive than here in the U.S. We are worried about this. Is this safe?
A: Medical tourism is more popular industry than most people realize. Surgery overseas may also be much safer than you suspect. Even though the U.S. accounts more than half of the world's total expenditures on health care, we rank only 37th in quality of care. In this case, cost is clearly not directly tied to the medical outcome. The insurance, medical record translation and financial/currency issues are not addressed in this response but obviously they must be considered. Even if the surgery is not expected to be covered by insurance, it is still important to have strong regular medical insurance that provides international coverage just in case of unexpected complications. If his health plan does not provide coverage outside of the U.S., then he can add this supplemental coverage easily for the duration of his trip. See the international health plan listing at www.FreedomBenefits.net. You should make sure that this is addressed before he leaves home. Otherwise, there is no obvious casue for worry.
Summary
More resources:
International health insurance listings at FreedomBenefits.net