Health Tourism News

The recent revision in the reimbursement rules of NHS has decided to treat the cost coverage of medical expenses of patients opting to fix their medical issues through medical travel is not entitled for reimbursement.

The option of medical tourism which had allowed Britons to skip long waiting lists back home and turn to medical travel to get treatments quickly, are at ease anymore since they will have to fund their medical trips to other nations without any aid from NHS.
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Thailand is high up there on the list of the most visited medical tourist destinations. And why not, the country has some top quality hospitals, well-qualified doctors and endless miles of sandy white beaches – not to mention beautiful climate and a rich, eclectic culture. In fact, it’s a medical tourist’s ‘paradise on earth’.

The Thai Government has also gone the extra mile to ensure that an continuous stream of tourists are making their way to the country’s hospitals and exotic island resorts. The Government has designated the next two years as the Thailand Investment Year 2008-2009 with a strong focus on medical tourism. Of the 15.7 million visitors expected to visit Thailand this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims for nearly 1.4 million medical visitors.
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People from the western nations are now more than willing to cross borders and even oceans to get low-cost dental care in countries like India, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The cost difference is indeed the huge draw for people coming in from more affluent consumers in U.S. and Europe. For example a single caries restoration costs $300 to $400 in the U.S., while it costs only $20 to $40 in the most state-of-the-art dental clinics in India. A dental bridge in the U.S. costs $5,500 while it is only $500 in India. Dental caps or dental crowns cost as high as $950 to $1450 in any U.S. suburb but it costs as low as a $100 in India. That’s the dollar-rupee difference we are talking about.
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Heart-valve replacement surgery in USA - $200,000
Heart-valve replacement surgery in India - $10,000
Dental bridge in USA - $5,500
Dental bridge in India - $500

The numbers speak for themselves. Little wonder that over 50,000 Americans traveled to countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand for medical treatment in 2006. But when it comes to your body, cost isn’t the only deciding factor…quality is the main rider. So, is the quality of care in these developing nations on par with hospitals in USA and UK?
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Medical tourism is a recognized industry in the west. When Information Technology, manufacturing and technical support jobs went eastward, nobody even bothered to think that healthcare might take the same road somebody. But it did. And that’s good news for countries like India, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines.

Medical care in these Asian countries cost just one-tenth of the costs in U.S.A. No wonder 50,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care in 2006. Surgical care and dental treatment top the list of health care needs of people from America and U.K. Several of the hospitals in these countries boast state-of-the-art facilities, skilled medical professionals and medical care on par with western countries.

Insurance companies in the U.S.A. have started to recognize this form of medical care in another country as a viable alternative to high-cost medical care in the U.S. The Economic Times has a report that suggests that western insurance companies are considering covering medical tourism, as well. If one tenth of Americans travel abroad for treatment, the insurance companies could save around $1.4 billion. The report recommends that companies should consider offering SOP’s like lowered premiums or added services to boost medical tourism as it improves their bottom-line, eventually. This would again be a great impetus for medical tourism in countries like India.

The Malaysian government has recently decided to extend the visa for health tourists from a period of thirty days to six months. This is a great move to improve health tourism in the country. Tourists applying for the health visa must have important documents like letters from the doctors treating them to apply for the visa.
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Health care in the U.S. is expensive. Period. Medical expenditure in U.S. has reached an all-time high of $2 trillion per year. U.S. top the list of nation’s spending on health insurance. But still 46 million Americans continue to live without insurance each year. But health care woes are far from over, even for the insured. Healthcare premium rise nearly three times more than inflation rate. And the insured still have to spend a considerable sum from their pockets, every time they visit a doctor.
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As more and more westerners start to understand the value of age-old cures, traditional medical practices like Ayurveda and Naturopathy are seeing a new kind of resurgence in this day and age. This move has been a real boom to India’s health tourism sector. Today, people from USA and Europe come to the backwaters of Kerala to experience rejuvenation through ayurveda, siddha, unani and other forms of alternative medicine.
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As more and more people, hospitals and patients the world over are becoming aware of the growth and potential of Medical Tourism; governments too are awakening to take the necessary steps required to facilitate its growth and popularity in their respective countries.

The Indian Government is one such body which is taking productive measures towards ensuring that this extremely lucrative opportunity may be available to the deserving, well equipped Indian hospitals and practices.

The Government of India estimates that, on average, Indian hospitals offer treatment for 20% of what it would cost in the United States, with even bigger discounts available on cosmetic surgery. The cost of heart surgery in India is $6,000 compared with $30,000 in the United States!

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With the surge in the popularity of Asia as one of the popular medical tourism destinations in the world; Thailand is equipping itself as one of the prominent medical tourism hubs.

The TRSC International LASIK Center located in Thailand is Asia’s largest standalone LASIK and full refractive surgery center. Located in Thailand, a country famous for its first-world medical services, it is a private-sector ophthalmic surgery center specializing in the surgical correction of vision problems (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism), using a surgical method called LASIK, which is the safest, most advanced, and most accurate vision correction procedure available today.

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