Health Tourism News

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.

With the dollar value higher than the money value in most South Asian countries like India, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, most Americans feel that it is monetarily more viable to visit these countries for their health care needs. Moreover, these countries boast of cutting-edge medical equipments, reputed medical professionals and quality medical care on par with hospitals and medical centers in the U.S. But the cost of the treatment still remains to be just a fraction of the cost in the U.S. And the cost includes the airfare, stay and a small vacation package.

Surprisingly, most patients visit India not for the expected cosmetic enhancements but for dental care, knee surgery, lasik eye surgeries and heart surgeries. But the numbers for tummy tucks and face-lifts are also increasing at a slow and steady rate. Most Indian facilities have a higher patient-nurse ratio compared to America and doctors are as skilled as their counter-parts in USA.

Nowadays, several Indian hospitals have started to cater to the special needs of patients from abroad especially from USA with special menu, better facilities and better care. This has made getting treatment in an Indian hospital as good and as comfortable as being treated in their own hometown. The Indian government has also issued a special medical visa promoting medical tourism further. No wonder, more than 500,000 Americans traveled abroad (medical travel) to receive medical care in 2006 and a majority of them made India their medical care destination.