Health care costs in the United States are at an all time high.  Whether you have insurance or not, paying for even the smallest procedure can drain away your hard earned savings.  As a result, many Americans are opting for a more affordable route: medical tourism.  Medical tourism is a low cost option that allows patients to travel to countries around the globe and receive treatment for considerably less than they would here in the U.S.

One of the chief concerns that people have when they first begin to consider medical tourism is safety and quality of care.  With the prices so much lower (sometimes 80% or more) how can they offer the same quality of care?  You get what you pay for, right? Wrong.  Many of the hospitals and medical facilities that offer services to medical tourist have met the standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization and the International Organization for Standardization.   Some of the most state-of-the-art facilities, services, and procedures are available abroad.

So how, you may be wondering, are they able to keep the prices down if they offer just as good, if not better, services than the U.S.?

There are several factors that contribute to the high cost of healthcare in the U.S. and the low cost throughout the rest of the world.  One of the largest factors is insurance.  Insurance companies are very much the “middle men” in the health care industry.  Insurance companies are in the money making business.   Those with insurance pay expensive rates every month for coverage, high deductibles and co-pays with every office visit and procedure, and whatever is left after the insurance pays their small part of each bill.  They also dictate to the healthcare provider what will be covered and how much they will pay; which is often considerably lower than the healthcare provider is asking.  This in turn forces physicians and hospitals to continually raise their rates.  This is not true of other countries.  When considering another country for treatment, you communicate directly with the hospital and physician and, once you have decided, make a one -time contract for that procedure.  There is no one in between to raise or force the prices up.

Another contributing factor is malpractice insurance.  Everyone in the American medical field is required to have malpractice insurance or risk losing their practice and career if they are ever sued.  And as with all other insurance, the price tag for malpractice insurance is very high.  In return, doctors have to charge more to afford it. This is not true of doctors in other countries, so they are able to keep their rates much lower.

The final, and probably most forgotten, factor is cost of living.  The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world.  As a result the cost of most products and services is pretty high; especially when compared to a country such as India that still has a very high poverty rate.  The less money you need to live on, the less you have to charge for services.

The U.S. has many top of the line products and services; however, they are quickly being replaced in the medical field as medical tourism continues to increase in popularity.  With so many countries vying to be the top medical tourism destination, the U.S. will need to either join in or risk being left behind.