MEDICAL TOURISM
ABSTRACT A growing number of people are discovering the benefits of medical tourism. In the U.S.A and throughout the western world, it is becoming common knowledge that medical tourism offers a cheaper option for receiving medical treatment without compromising on quality1. The costs of medical treatment and state-of-the-art technology are the most important factors for Americans in making a decision to travel abroad for treatment2. The cost-conscious factor and availability of accredited facilities have led to the emergence of several global medical tourism corridors3. Asia leads the medical tourism industry worth billions4. Amongst these corridors of health, India has the second largest number of accredited
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* Immediate access to treatment is possible. * Improved communication opportunities make it easier to find and contact medical centers overseas * International travel is trouble-free and reasonably priced. * Fluent English speaking staff Another factor to consider is health insurance. People without health insurance, or with a limited insurance policy, are more likely to seek other options such as medical tourism. As the price of healthcare services increase, the range of treatments and procedures that the health insurance policies cover decreases. The deductible on a person’s health insurance may turnout to be more expensive than the price of going overseas for treatment. This is one of the major reasons why people who simply cannot afford health insurance, choose traveling abroad as a legitimate alternative. India spends on average $40 a person annually on healthcare and United States spends $8500 a person. The entire GDP of India is $1.6 trillion but U.S. health care spending alone is $2.6 trillion. But both countries are comparable in terms of patient outcomes.
PREPARATION BEFORE OVERSEAS MEDICAL TRAVEL:
(1) GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER: Collect complete information about the hospitals, doctors and the range of services available at the chosen hospital. (2) IDENTIFY THE DOCTORS AT THE CHOSEN HEALTHCARE: (a) The ‘Find the doctor ‘section in the hospital website offers profiles on
Furthermore, the United States spends nearly double the average $3,923 for the 15 countries ("Health Care Cost," 2011).” Accordingly the U.S. throws away more money than any other country on healthcare which consequently could jeopardize the medical attention that is being provided.
Globalization in healthcare is a topic that has been the subject of many debates worldwide. While practically the entire world is becoming a global village due to globalization, the healthcare industry was considered to be invulnerable to this trend. This was attributed to the fact that healthcare is a service industry, where service is delivered on area of purchase. However many developments not only in the healthcare industry but in the entire economical sphere as a whole have seen the aspects of globalization. As a result globalization in the healthcare industry is a common phenomenon in the contemporary world. As the healthcare industry across global boundaries becomes increasingly intertwined,
The U.S. spends more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia. 10 of the 20 occupations
The healthcare system in each country is intended to meet the best possible medical services needs of its citizens. One country’s healthcare system can vary from another. This is according to their administration strategy, training, education, technology, and spending plan. Social, economic, political, and physical parts of the nation also play huge role in defining a country’s healthcare system. There are many similarities in the delivery of medical services between United States and Nepal. For the middle class people, affording a good healthcare system is still an unresolved issue of these two countries. The issue of financing the system of healthcare has been the biggest challenge to the government of Nepal, and it is similar to the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the United States. Although Nepal and the United States have similarities in healthcare system, they also equally share significant differences in providers, spending and the medical professionals. Some people consider that the healthcare system in the U.S. is superior.
has the world’s most expensive healthcare system, yet one-sixth of Americans are uninsured. Approximately one-third (31%) of adults and a little more than one-half (54%) of children do not have a primary care doctor. Federal spending on healthcare in 2005 alone totaled $600 billion, a massive one-quarter of the federal budget. Someone files for bankruptcy every 30 seconds in the U.S of health concerns. And every 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure due to unaffordable medical costs. The U.S. spends six times more per capita on the administration of the health insurance system than Western European nations, who insure all citizens.“ www.realtruth.org/articles/090203-005-health.html. “In United States, the annual cost of health care per capita is $5,711. http://www.visualeconomics.com/healthcare-costs-around-the-world_2010-03-01/#ixzz12f0I1lbk
The major problem, they have within the healthcare industry is the lack of government funding and the total expenditure on health per capita is $109, compared to the $7290 per capita in the United States. Healthcare consumes 4.9% of India’s GDP versus the 16% in the United States. The outcomes equal long lines, fewer facilities and inefficient staff. The supply of healthcare in India is on par with that in sub-Saharan African countries. According to the World Bank, 75% of all health expenditures is in the private sector, where 90% of healthcare costs are paid out-of-pocket.
Approximately $2.7 trillion is spent annually on health care. That is more than one-sixth of the U.S. economy that is devoted to healthcare and that fraction will continue to grow as the years go on. Regrettably, experts agree that an estimated 20 to 30 percent of the trillions spent goes to inefficient and wasteful care.
Unfortunately, PPACA still does not ensure all Americans will have coverage, despite broadening coverage through government providers and forbidding private insurance companies to deny patients with pre-existing conditions. In 2010, prior to the PPACA, $2.6 billion was spent on healthcare, 18% of the United States’ GDP. In recent years, that rate has risen significantly, reaching $3.1 trillion in total spending. In 2015, CNBC reported that per a government projection, by 2024 national health expenditures are forecast to be $5.43 trillion per year. In 2010, while the U.S. spent approximately, $8,233 on healthcare per person, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland each spent roughly $5,000. The remaining 33 developed OECD countries spent just over $3,000 per
According to data presented by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the US health care cost exceeded $ 8,000 per capita, in 2010, comparing to the next most expensive system (Norway) $5,000 per capita (OECD Health Data, 2012). Despite being the most expensive system in the word, US healthcare system has failed on many areas of performance and quality. According to OECD data, US has much lower life expectancy than other industrialized countries, also the infant mortality rate is higher than those countries. Moreover, the US is the only industrialized country that does not provide its citizens a protection of a universal health care coverage.
The United States spend entirely to much money on health care compared to other industrialized countries. Yet, other countries achieved far better health for more people at less cost, according to OECA. Of the 34 countries rated by the OECD study, the United States ranks #1 in health care spending per capita and #1 in percentage
In fact, the spending disparity between the U.S. and the other twelve countries is so vast that only the graph shown above can truly do it justice (commonwealth fund OECD Health Data 2016). The most shocking fact to consider is that despite such high spending, the U.S. still performs worse than these countries on health care. Where the quality of performance is determined by quality, access, efficiency, equity, and life expectancy the U.S. ranks dead last out of the twelve countries. With the exception of Switzerland, the second highest spending country, all of these countries have health care systems that are single-payer, universal, or both
The fact is that the U.S. spends more money on health care than any other country in the world, even when adjusting for relative wealth, according to a 2008 study by Mkcinsey Global Institute (MGI). In 2012 that number was about 2.6 trillion dollars or 18.6% of their gross domestic product (GDP) (13), in other words the U.S. spent about 8,915 dollars per person on health care, or more than twice what they spent on food and more than China spent on all goods and services combined (See Figure 1, MG1 2008). The amount spent on health care is expected to continue to rise , though that rise has slowed in the last three years, estimates suggest it could reach nearly 4.8 trillion dollars by 2021; which would be roughly one fifth of the U.S. GDP (15)
This figure is far more than any developed country. The U.K. spends 3,935 per capita for healthcare (Fox, 2016). By comparison, these figures represent a significant difference in expenses. According to a report from the Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. healthcare system has shortcomings which have been a problem for many years (Fox, 2016). Healthcare in the U.S. is delivered almost exclusively by private sector providers. The U.S. has hospitals that are owned by for profit companies and by non-profit companies. The hospitals in the U.K. are public and private.
Patients in the United States pay more for less with the current healthcare system. They spend more money on less care than any other developed nation. Not only are they paying for less care, they are paying more money for a lower standard than every other industrialized nation. Every country has a different system of healthcare, most of which are better than the current system used by the United States in terms of financial burden on the patient.
In the year 2012, expenditure on US health care amounted to 2.8 million trillion dollars, accounting for 17.2 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the US. The annual average cost of health care for the characteristic American family of 4 amounted to more than