Medical Tourism Takes Flight

Lower costs are luring Americans abroad but risks exist, experts warn.

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
Friday, July 6, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

FRIDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Soaring U.S. medical costs are causing many Americans to take to the skies on "medical tourism" junkets, looking for high-quality yet low-priced health care at foreign clinics.

In many cases, patients get exactly what they are looking for, but experts also warn that the booming industry does have some risks.

"My own advice would be to look carefully at the accreditation of the hospital and consider the nature of the procedure. Are you sure it is the procedure you need? And is it done well at the place you are going?" said Dr. Ann Marie Kimball, a professor of epidemiology and health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health, in Seattle.

The surge in medical tourism over the past decade is being driven by rising U.S. health-care costs and growing numbers of uninsured or under-insured Americans, said Josef Woodman, the author of a guidebook on the topic called Patients Beyond Borders.

Almost 45 million Americans, or slightly more than 15 percent of the population, are currently uninsured, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2005, the latest available.

Woodman estimated that more than 150,000 Americans traveled abroad for health care in 2006. The number is projected to double in 2007, he said.

"That 150,000 number is conservative," he said. "Some experts say 400,000." Among the top destinations: Southeast Asia and Mexico, with many other countries, such as Costa Rica, expected to be the next popular destinations for medical care.

Medical tourism companies, in collaboration with special "health travel agents," have sprung up across the country, and some insurance plans are participating in these endeavors, as well.

In California, for instance, Salud con Health Net, a program of Health Net of California, provides access to health care for their insured Latino participants for services conducted across the border in Mexico. And BlueCross/BlueShield of South Carolina and BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina now offer medical care at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, among treatment options. Bumrungrad treats more than 400,000 international patients every year.