The four largest commercial health insurers in America and several smaller insurers are doing what thousands of regular citizens are doing – going abroad for better, more affordable health care than they can find in the U.S.
In an attempt to control costs, insurers are using networks of doctors and hospitals in India, Costa Rica, and other countries for a growing number of treatment claims. Overseas healthcare costs can be up to 80 percent less than in America, providing significant savings for the U.S. based companies – and making health care abroad particularly attractive for millions of Americans with high-deductible plans.
Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Florida-based Medical Tourism Association, said that overseas care can reduce major medical claims between 50 percent and 90 percent through price breaks of $40,000 or more for knee replacements, heart bypasses, and other procedures.
The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions projects that about 1.6 million people will travel abroad for health care in 2010 – double the approximately 750,000 Americans who traveled abroad in 2007.
With or without insurance, growing numbers of Americans are looking at medical care overseas in a variety of countries where health care standards are high and costs are low. In many of these countries it is even cost effective to pay out-of-pocket for medical care.