Medical Tourism may not be a Win / Win Situation for All
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>The impacts of medical tourism – traveling long distances away from home to obtain medical care – which more and more is not about obtaining medical procedures that are not available at home , or seeking improved quality of medical care but in most cases either finding a way of economically “jumping the cue” or reducing the costs of treatment or therapy dramatically.
The cost differential of treatment abroad may only be a portion of the costs of the same procedures at home. To this end not only is it a case of cosmetic elective surgery but rather that insurance companies are coming up with the realization that even after travel costs they are far ahead in most financial accountings. There are issues and other costs true – what of follow-ups in cases of complications and downright negligence true.
However if one is to look at the system in a cold hearted financial sense the insurance companies are still light years ahead – in terms of output costs. In addition these complications and mishaps can be reduced through basic research and inquiries into medical systems and procedures and using well known accredited institutions.
To this point some major health care insurance providers are actually promoting medical tourism to the customers – even to the point of setting up programs , marketing programs and departments to promote , market as well as facilitate the logistics and follow through to the customers and their providers of medical care. It would appear to be a win / win situation for all.
Yet this is not always the case. Medical care and medical care costs in the states and E.U. is driven by both demand and costs. True with medical tourism the demand for medical care and services back home may be reduced. Yet medical tourism at the moment is only scratching the surface. Even the most aggressive of medical insurers estimate that in the range of only 1 to 2 % of their procedures afforded are being serviced overseas via medical tourism.
Yet in the case of the American medical system this small group serves to subsidize the medical system as a whole – providing an essential source of funds to keep the system going and in effect subsidize the health care of those less fortunate, in financial terms, but very demanding overall on the health care system – the aged, the elderly and the poor.
In the end result the demand for health care – the demand side of the supply/demand model will not diminish much. But funding which both funds the system and provides for economies of scales in the health care system will.
Thus while some may benefit from medical tourism, and the insurance companies of health care may benefit from reduced costs – in the end the medical system as a whole as well as the quality of care afforded and provided for may well decrease as well as diminish.
- The Washington Post reports on the potential disadvantages of medical tourism. When things go badly after an overseas operation, a patient may be left facing a host of challenges: lack of access to follow-up care at home; ...
- Potential Disadvantages of Medical Tourism. Laws vary from country to country about liability for surgical mistakes. Some patients who experience problems when obtaining procedures in foreign countries report that the medical provider’s ...
- The practice of seeking medical treatment overseas is commonly known as medical tourism. To entice those to participate in medical tourism, insurance companies must reduce the risk of medical malpractice by ensuring these medical ...
- A big reduction in cost is one of the main reasons why US insurance companies are allowing their patients to receive medical care in countries such as Costa Rica, Singapore, and Australia. Of course there are obvious disadvantages such ...
- The advantages of medical tourism far outweigh the disadvantages once you can learn how to minimize medical tourism risks.
- medical tourism may be defined as seeking healthcare outside one’s own country. this is becoming more common as people search for affordable healthcare. in the us, patients travel to countries that perform the procedure they need for a ... |
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