Last Year About 150,000 Americans Traveled Abroad for Medical Treatment
James Dodd of Hanford, who once weighed 444 pounds, had weight-reduction surgery in Mexico after his insurance company refused to fund it. He says medical care in Mexico, if researched well, is equivalent to care in the U.S. at a fraction of the cost.
An Internet search for alternatives turned up Bajanor Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, where doctors perform the procedure for $7,200 — far less than the $37,000 he said he was quoted at the time.
Dodd is among an increasing number of Americans venturing out of the country — to places like Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines and India — for medical treatment because of the high cost of healthcare.
Patients can save as much as 80 percent on procedures done by medical professionals often educated and trained in the United States at hospitals increasingly accredited for meeting U.S.-like standards.
An estimated 150,000 people traveled abroad last year for medical treatment, and the number is expected to double by 2010, said Josef Woodman, author of “Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-class Medical Tourism.” Nearly half had medically necessary surgeries, such as hip replacements or spinal work, heart surgeries, even cancer treatment.
The book, released in March, tells how patients can save 25 percent to 75 percent on anything from LASIK eye repair to neurosurgery by traveling outside the United States.
Health-industry representatives said U.S. healthcare costs more, in part, because of skyrocketing medical-malpractice insurance and the higher wages and benefits paid to hospital workers.
Interest in traveling abroad for medical treatment has spawned a new industry: medical tourism. Companies are playing the role of travel agent and medical-care coordinator and linking American patients with overseas hospitals for a fee.
MedRetreat, based near Chicago, was one of the first when it started in 2003.
The company describes itself as “a medical gateway to healthcare abroad where smart medicine and exotic travel come together.”
Company spokesman Patrick Marsek said MedRetreat organized care for 200 people in 2005, about 350 in 2006 and expects to have helped 650 patients this year get treatment in places such as Malaysia and Thailand.
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