Since Barack Obama was sworn in as US President there has been much publicity, both good and bad, given to his attempt at reforming the US health system.
Now a reality, the reform still asks as many questions as it answers.
The US health care reforms may have a negative impact on health care tourism and off shoring of medical needs, including international travelling nurse jobs. It is yet unclear how the bill will impact medical tourism, but given that the target market for the medical tourism industry is about to vanish under the new and extended health insurance coverage plans, there will be interesting changes in how the industry operates in the future.
The medical tourism industry based its business on the premise that a large number of Americans were un-insured or under-insured. For all these Americans, insurance-less medical expense in the US itself was prohibitively costly. A simple dental procedure can cost upwards of $3000 in the US, and if you add post-op care, medicines, etc. to that, the cost can quickly escalate, to say nothing of the long waiting lines while you endure the pain. A similar procedure in India costs less than $500, and you hardly have to wait at all.
A heart surgery costs over $30000 in the US, while it can be lower than $8000 for an open heart surgery in India. It was impossible for under-insured Americans to come up with such money, but India and other Asian destinations offered an attractive alternative. This fact led to medical tourism industry’s targeting the under/un-insured market almost exclusively.
With the new health care bill that requires all Americans to be insured comprehensively, this market is about to go away. If there are no uninsured Americans, the medical tourism industry will lose its relevance. While every Asian hospital will underline its quality and promptness, it is probably true that if given the choice of treatment in the US at the same cost, most Americans will settle for that. So, once the health care bill makes every American insured, the medical tourism industry will need to devise a new strategy to survive.
3 comments so far
1 Robert Page // Apr 21, 2010 at 12:17 am
While there is plenty of concern among medical tourism companies where this will go, there is a general belief that this will be overall good for the industry.
First, the major transition is still a few years off. This gives the medical tourism industry time to brush up and establish itself as not only a cost-effective option but a way to get great medical care. (see this blog for ideas on how to improve the industry: http://www.medtogo.blogspot.com/)
Next, as is already seen with Canadians, people do not like to wait in line for much needed surgeries. They’ll look to go somewhere that won’t deplete their funds while still getting a reliable surgery.
Furthermore, with health reform requiring insurance companies to cover children up to 26 years of age on their parents’ policy and requiring them to cover pre-existing conditions, insurance companies will have to increase their premiums substantially. OR they can negotiate with patients to lower their premiums by agreeing to have select surgeries outside the country.
The fact is that none of the players within the US health care system are going to go away. Insurance companies don’t want to surrender their stake, malpractice attorneys don’t, neither do hospitals, doctors, HMO’s, pharmaceutical industry, medical technology industry, etc., etc.
In conclusion the battle has just begun. And unfortunately for US citizens things will get a whole lot worse before they get better.
2 geomark // Apr 21, 2010 at 2:22 am
I think there are a few other facets to the issue, and that the medical tourism market may not dry up at all, may actually expand due to unintended consequences.
One is that waiting lists will develop, so as in Canada and the UK, Americans may go overseas to avoid them.
Another is the increased pressure on insurance companies – they cannot deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and cannot cancel coverage. So they need to find ways to bring costs down to remain profitable. Sending people overseas for lower cost treatment is something that some insurance companies already do. I think this may expand, perhaps dramatically.
3 professional nursing services // Nov 1, 2010 at 5:26 pm
What differences are there in US insurance or UK insurance?