Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Medical tourism highlighted on "60 Minutes"
["Vacation, Adventure And Surgery?," 60 Minutes, CBSNews.com, 24 April 2005.]
If you had the opportunity to hear Howard Wizig speak at one of our HSA Workshops in Kansas City or Wichita recently, you probably remember him talking about HowardsHeart.com. This site tells the true story of a man who could not afford medical care in the U.S., and so decided to seek treatment abroad. Now, similar stories are popping up all over the place, and major media outlets are picking up on the ambitions of countries such as India, that seek to be the "world destination for health care":
Summertime. It’s almost upon us. Millions will be heading out to foreign lands for vacation, adventure, tourism, or just a beautiful beach. But how about hip surgery or a multiple bypass or a facelift?
A growing number of tourists are doing just that: combining holidays with health care. And that’s because a growing number of countries are offering first-rate medical care at third-world prices.
Many of these medical tourists can’t afford health care at home; the 40 million uninsured Americans, for example. Others are going for procedures not covered by their insurance: cosmetic surgery, infertility treatment.
And the hospitals in these faraway countries are glad to have these medical tourists. In fact, they are courting their business, trying to get more people to outsource their own health care.
A video of this segment is available here.
["Vacation, Adventure And Surgery?," 60 Minutes, CBSNews.com, 24 April 2005.]
If you had the opportunity to hear Howard Wizig speak at one of our HSA Workshops in Kansas City or Wichita recently, you probably remember him talking about HowardsHeart.com. This site tells the true story of a man who could not afford medical care in the U.S., and so decided to seek treatment abroad. Now, similar stories are popping up all over the place, and major media outlets are picking up on the ambitions of countries such as India, that seek to be the "world destination for health care":
Summertime. It’s almost upon us. Millions will be heading out to foreign lands for vacation, adventure, tourism, or just a beautiful beach. But how about hip surgery or a multiple bypass or a facelift?
A growing number of tourists are doing just that: combining holidays with health care. And that’s because a growing number of countries are offering first-rate medical care at third-world prices.
Many of these medical tourists can’t afford health care at home; the 40 million uninsured Americans, for example. Others are going for procedures not covered by their insurance: cosmetic surgery, infertility treatment.
And the hospitals in these faraway countries are glad to have these medical tourists. In fact, they are courting their business, trying to get more people to outsource their own health care.
A video of this segment is available here.
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