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In the N.Y. Daily News July 17 is an article:” Need an operation? Here is your ticket…..”It seems that some US companies trying to pursued employees to travel among other countries also to Costa Rica. Example: Heart Valve replacement is in US far more than $ 100,000.00 – in India 18,000.00. Knowing the cost in US and how many patients also contracted infections etc while in hospitals people may indeed one day fly in troves to CR. Maybe nurses will be in big demand one day in CR.
Thank you senta – Well spotted!
The full article can be seen at: I have no idea how long that link will remain active …
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Need an operation? Here’s
your air ticket to … IndiaBY JANE H. FURSE
DAILY NEWS WRITERDon’t look now, but that operation you’ve been putting off may be outsourced – to India.
American companies are encouraging workers to travel to India and other countries for costly medical procedures, Business Insurance magazine reports.“It saves you literally tens of thousands of dollars,” said Bonnie Blackley, benefits director at Canton, N.C.-based Blue Ridge Paper Products.
A heart valve replacement, for example, that runs between $68,000 and $198,000 in the United States costs only $18,000 in India.
Blackley said that although her company’s survival depended on keeping medical costs in check, local health care providers “offered no extra discount or anything.”
So she contracted with IndUShealth, a “medical tourism” company that specializes in arranging employee travel to accredited hospitals and board-certified physicians in India.
Because of lower labor costs, India, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico and Costa Rica could pose some stiff competition for U.S. medical providers.
“We’ve globalized every other industry. Why not health care?” said Ted Nussbaum, director of North American health care consulting at Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Stamford, Conn.
But Chuck Kelley, medical director at Outrigger Enterprises Inc. in Honolulu, told the magazine it will be hard to persuade employees to travel abroad for medical care.
“Health care treatment is a very personal issue for Americans, and when they are sick, they want to be close to their family and in the care of providers they know and trust – even if they are not the best,” Kelley said. “They will settle for inferior and more expensive treatment to be home.”
Companies like Blue Ridge plan to give their employees a financial incentive to go abroad by offering to cover them and their dependents for any out-of-pocket costs.
Originally published on July 17, 2006
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Scott
I think that, right or wrong, most foreigners from developed countries would be afraid to have their surgery done in an underdeveloped or developing country, especially when insurance is paying for it anyway.
However, Costa Rica does have a great reputation for its excellent doctors, many of who went to the best medical schools in the world. It’s a famous locale for plastic surgery already, but did you know they were doing heart transplants there in the 80’s? Even so, after 20 years people are still not flocking there for one.
One of the compelling reasons for going outside the U.S. for expensive care is that many U.S. health care insurance policies have annual or lifetime caps on benefits. A million dollars sounds like a lot of money until your artificial heart valve goes bad and has to be replaced. That’s especially true if you’re still recovering from your hip replacement and your triple bypass. Suddenly, India, Costa Rica, Thailand or almost anywhere looks better and better.
Excruciating pain is another “compelling reason” and tends to make treatment in a foreign country very much more urgent and appealing.
Incidentally, in Saturday’s La Nacion (page 4A) there was an article about medical tourism in Costa Rica being up 15% in 2005 versus 2004 and how the savings for foreigners from the USA are “substantial.”
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
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