Hey Buddy, Can I Catch A Lift To India For My Health Care?
September 30th, 2008
Last year we visited an Indian hospital that engaged in medical tourism. Fascinating place and visit.
Today’s Wall Street Journal [subscription required] had a great article on this very subject (Paying Workers To Go Abroad For Health Care).
Short summary:
In an effort to control rising costs, a small but growing number of insurers and employers are giving people the option of seeking treatment in countries like India.
I predict said trend will continue and more and more firms will do this.
Check out the article.
Have any of you worked for or do any of you work for firms that have plugged into medical tourism to help cut costs? If so, what has been your experience?
If not, if/when that day comes, won’t this trip help you make a better/more informed decision re: the viability of going this route for you individually and/or for you as a manager of your firm trying to educate your employees on this option?
1 Comment Add your own
1. Simeon Trieu | October 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Great article, thanks Prof. Carr. The hospital we visited, Wockhardt Hospital, provided very comfortable rooms at a fraction of the price in the US. There was an entire floor (!) dedicated to international patients, and all the staff were trained to deal with foreign customers specifically. The drawbacks to these conditions are that you’d have to fly to India to get your medical treatment… without your family and friends there to support you. Only your closest family and friends would fly to India just to see you while you recover. That’s actually a dealbreaker for me, as I know myself and want to be around those closest to me during a medical procedure like surgery and recovery. They did have a computer with internet, and Skype would be a viable alternative. However, I prefer face to face contact with friends and family to video conferencing on Skype.
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