Insurers putting medical tourism plans to the test - bizjournals Business Travel Guide

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Now it includes doctor. When reports came out a few yeara ago of Americans traveling to other countries for cheapermedical care, they were regarded as an Now the idea of looking overseas for care is beingy considered, or implemented, by companies acrosz the country and by major insurance companies including the largest carriers in Greater Cincinnati. Anthem parent , bases in Indianapolis, started a pilot this year givinb certain patients the option of going to Indiaqfor care.
The program started with , a Wisconsin-basedd provider of printed decorating solutions, and applies to certai common elective procedures, such as major joing replacement and upper and lower back Those procedures have to be performed at designater facilities belongingto “an extended networi of respected hospitals and healtjh care providers in India,” according to WellPoint. All travelk arrangements are covered under the for both the member and atravel “Depending on the findings from our pilot in such as quality outcomes, member satisfactioj and cost-savings, we will then decide the future of the said Deb Wiethop, spokeswoman for . McKinsey & Co.
, a New York-baseds national management consulting firm, estimated the medical tourismk marketat 60,000 to 85,000 inpatienf travelers a year. The numbersd are smaller than othershave reported, owing partly to McKinsey’as strict definition of what constitutes a medicakl tourist. Travelers had to be “people whose primary and explicit purpose in traveling is medical treatment in aforeigm country” and not, for example, ordinary tourists who becomwe sick. And the market is more complex than the hypewould suggest. Abouy 40 percent of medicalo travelers are not seeking cheapercare but, rather, advancedc technology.
Most originate from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Canads and enter the United Statesfor treatment. Only 9 percenft of travelers are seeking lowed costs for medicallynecessary procedures. The medical tourism market is valuedat $20 billion annually and should grow rapidly in coming years, authod Josef Woodman has He wrote the book “Patients Beyond Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism.” Populard destinations for U.S. patients include India, Thailand, Mexico, Costz Rica and Singapore. Patient are commonly uninsured or Woodmanhas said, and patients can expect rates 25 percent to 75 percent less than those in the U.S.
That can amounyt to tens of thousands of dollars for major proceduresa such as a hip replacement or a heartvalve replacement. Patients often get treatment in evenluxurious facilities, and often by U.S.-trained Some have added credibility throughn accreditation by the . Wiethop said WellPoin has no immediate plans to introduce a medicao tourism option in Ohio or other Theinsurer doesn’t yet have results to report on Serigraph, a 600-employee But clearly the potential savings haven’gt escaped other major insurers.
anothert major player in Greater Cincinnati, “feels that it has an obligation to look into thisgrowinyg phenomenon,” said United spokeswoman Debora But the carrier has no medical tourism product yet. Amonh factors to be considered beforwoffering one, Spano said, are quality of pre- and post-medical management legal implications and patient “We must take a very prudent, thoughtful she said.