Medical Value of Travel Includes Medical Travel Insurance

Companion Global Healthcare Model for Medical Travel Insurance

As medical tourism grows, its value gains additional components; the latest of which has been insurance.  Insurance companies have been noticing the heightened patient response to traveling overseas for medical procedures.  Currently, many of those procedures are on the patients’ own dime or, at best, are only partially paid for through domestic insurance companies.  The leader of the paradigm shift among insurance companies has been BlueCross’ Companion Global Health Care.  The Companion Global Healthcare model establishes a sole source for appointments, information, and travel services for medical packages.  The model also links Companion Global Healthcare with Thailand’s Bumrungrad International Hospital, in Bangkok, making it easier for medical tourists to receive value in their travels abroad.   

Global Medical Travel Could Lower Insurance Costs

The time, energy, and resources that Companion Global Healthcare has invested in vetting and verifying medical facilities institutions, like Bumrungrad, for medical travel insurance and medical packages will likely drive and increase in the medical value of traveling to Thailand.  Bumrungrad treats 400,000 international patients on average each year.  In 2006, 80,000 (twenty percent) of those patients were Americans.  Furthermore, the hospital boasts more than 750 doctors treating 554 patients at a time; greater than a one-to-one ratio of doctors to patients.  Companion Global Healthcare’s verification process ensures that rate is solidified with quality doctors and not just bodies to beef up the hospital’s appeal.  The assurance that the hospital and staff are on the “up and up” can lead to lower insurance rates for procedures abroad, since the perceived risks would be lower.   

Insurance Partnerships Promote Medical Packages to Thailand

The insurance coverage of medical packages to places like Thailand seems to have a symbiotic effect on the medical value of such travel.  Patients who otherwise would have paid out-of-pocket are receiving insurance coverage, which increases the insurance companies’ security and background checks on the hospitals and doctors.  David Boucher, BlueCross assistant vice president of health care services said, “Including a global healthcare alternative reflects our ongoing commitment to help members seek the services they want at competitive process [in medical travel insurance].”  The patients benefit from both the increased coverage and the validation of facilities by insurance companies.   

Source:  Elizabeth Hammond, “BlueCross BlueShield and BlueChoice HealthPlan Pioneer Global HealthCare Alternative,” SouthCarolinaBlues.com, February 8, 2007