Thursday, August 21, 2008

Affordable Destinations

Fees for medical treatment abroad can range from one-half to as little as one-fifth the price in the United States, depending on the destination country and the type of procedure performed, writes Devon Herrick in "Medical Tourism: Health Care Free Trade."

For example, Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, India, charges $4,000 for cardiac surgery, compared to about $30,000 in the U.S. Medical licensing laws should be brought into the information age, where distance (or country) is irrelevant in procuring many medical services, writes Herrick. Further, insurers and employer-sponsored health plans should be able to offer financial incentives for seeking care abroad, much as they do currently for medical services within their network, without facing increased liability risks.

Federal and state government should lead by example, by allowing Medicare and Medicaid programs to send willing patients abroad. Medicare would particularly benefit from cost savings since it pays for a large volume of orthopedic and cardiac procedures.