Med Travel Exec: Obamacare Will Spur Employee Travel Coverage

Healthcare Reform Go-Ahead Expected to Boost Medical Travel
Health insurance providers and employers have been waiting for a final decision on the Affordable Care Act before moving forward with alternative healthcare options, according to Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association.  Now that Obama’s healthcare reform has been officially validated by the Supreme Court, the medical tourism industry will become an “attractive option for employers and insurers looking for innovative ways to lower their healthcare costs,” he said in a statement.

“This should have a very positive impact on employers and insurers moving forward with implementing medical tourism, now that they understand that healthcare reform law has been approved by the Supreme Court. The burden is now on insurers and employers, since the law does not address the issue of increased costs,” said Edelheit who is also an editor-in-chief of Healthcare Reform magazine.

Thailand Reports Big Surge in Med Tourism
Thailand is seeing a surge in foreign travelers seeking medical care, according to figures issued by the country’s Department of Health Service Support. Foreigners seeking medical treatment in Thailand are expected to total 2.53 million in 2012, up from 1.37 million in 2007. The most popular treatments are for orthopedics, heart surgery, cosmetic surgery and dental work, according to Thailand’s health department. The U.S. is among Thailand’s four top sources of foreign patients, along with Japan, the U.K. and Australia. The three main groups of foreigners seeking medical treatment in Thailand are foreign residents (41%); tourists who use some medical services during a stay in Thailand (32%), and visitors seeking specific medical treatments (27%).

Two Startups Launch International Health Databases
Two new companies, Singapore-based MediSherpa and Chicago- and Taiwan-based HuliHealth, are building extensive databases of international health care providers and doctors that list credentials, crowd-sourced feedback, cost, addresses, and contact information. The MediSherpa website has a database of over 300,000 medical institutions and professionals in destinations that include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Australia. The HuliHealth website offers a database of doctors and dentists in Taiwan, Costa Rica and Panama. Medical practitioners must be recommended by other doctors to be listed on HuliHealth.

Med Tourism Facility Breaks Ground in Eastern Caribbean
The New River Medical Centre, a facility designed to serve medical tourists, broke ground on the Caribbean island of Nevis, with completion expected in late 2013. The medical center, a joint project between the Nevis Island Administration and Atlanta-based Princeton Health Care Inc., will focus on selective non-complicated bariatric surgery as well as plastic, orthopedic and dental surgery. There will also be a wing of rehabilitation suites. It will be the first such facility for St. Kitts and Nevis.

Dubai Plans Specialty Treatment Centers
To further establish Dubai as a medical tourism hub, Dubai Healthcare City plans to open specialized centers for oncology, genetic disorders and diabetes, as well as adding facilities for rehab, pediatrics and integrated medicine.

According to Dr. Ayesha Abdullah, managing director of Dubai Healthcare City, the UAE has established itself as one of the Middle East’s top destinations for medical tourism, with Dubai driving demand for global-standard healthcare services, against cost-competitive destinations such as Thailand and India. She also said that Dubai Healthcare City is seeing sharp growth in medical tourism. The facility served more than 502,000 patients in 2011, 15% of them medical tourists. In 2010, it served 412,000 patients, 10% of them medical tourists.

South Korea Launches ‘Medical Korea’ Campaign
Add South Korea to the growing list of destinations seeking to be a major destination for medical tourism. The government has been supporting the globalization of Korean medical institutions under a brand campaign called Medical Korea. Among government initiatives aimed at fostering medical tourism are: the issuance of medical treatment visas, operation of an around-the-clock medical call center and dedicated one-stop medical tourism service centers.

So far, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total number of foreign patients who visited South Korea for medical treatment surpassed 110,000 last year, up about 34% from 81,789 in 2010. South Korea aims to attract more than 150,000 foreign patients this year and, by 2018,  400,000 medical visitors. By comparison, fewer than 8,000 foreign travelers came to South Korea for medical treatment in 2007.