Pros & Cons of Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism: An Alternative for Health Care

Medical tourism involves traveling to another country for medical treatment, including dental care, eye care, and surgical care.  Business owners sponsor self-insured group health plans offering medical tourism for their employees and outsource medical procedures to foreign countries to reduce their costs.  This trend is becoming popular due to the ever increasing costs of health care in the United States and other developed nations.  In addition, more affordable international travel and improved health care in developing countries are helping to make the health vacation industry more attractive every year.  Many foreign hospitals now have quality care accreditation from The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the International Organization for Standardization.  They have sophisticated research infrastructure and offer US board certified surgeons.  In addition, many countries have even become leaders in certain medical research e.g. India in Biotechnology and South Korea in stem cell research.  Today many countries have some of the best hospitals for eye care or heart surgery in the world.

Unclear Policies & Procedures for Medical Tourism

Because the health vacation industry is a relatively new phenomenon, Group Health Plans should utilize it cautiously because of unclear tax policies for expenses related to medical procedures, lodging, transportation, and meals.  Tax exemption benefits are offered to foreign medical care only by licensed physicians.  The IRS taxes health vacation patients for receiving financial incentives and overseas prescription costs.  In cases where a doctor recommends an eye operation to a patient who then flies to one of the best hospitals for eye care in Thailand, insurance usually does not include the cost of travel or lodging.

The Other Side of Health Vacation

Even if a country has some of the best hospitals for eye care, heart surgery, or plastic surgery, patients may suffer due to weak malpractice laws in some medical tourism countries.  The health care providers may not be HIPAA compliant and doctors may recommend unapproved procedures. The FDA may seize drugs prescribed by foreign doctors that are illegal in the US. Employers must ensure quality health care by utilizing services only from credentialed physicians and accredited hospitals that comply with HIPAA’s Privacy, EDI, and Security Rules.  They must also ensure proper post-operative care communication between US and foreign doctors.  They should make conducting diligence obligatory for patients and utilize the services of experienced attorneys and medical tourism companies to coordinate health care in other countries.

Source: Marcia Wagner, “Is medical tourism the right option?” Boston Herald, November 26, 2006