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Article Date: 11/02/2006

Health Care Looks Towards Outsourcing
Health care continues to rise in the United States, and Americans have been going overseas for medical treatment. The National Coalition on Health Care reported that 500,000 uninsured Americans that traveled overseas for medical treatment last year. For quite some time, Thailand, India, and Singapore were popular for medical tourists for tummy tucks and face lifts. Now bigger procedures such as heart surgery, are increasing in popularity at elaborate-looking places. Today, American hospitals have been using India for diagnostics such as X-ray readings. However, the health care in the United States has been able to have its high costs due to lack in competition in foreign markets. Over the last six years alone, premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage have increased 87 percent.
As a result, some companies have started looking into exporting patients. For example, United Group Programs, company based in Florida that offers self-insurance policies to small businesses, is offering a plan to patients to a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. The company states that the plan will save employers over 50 percent on major medical costs. In addition, it will cut employees' out-of-pocket expenses to zero.
While the reduction in price is quite appealing, one must keep in mind that outsourcing health care also has its risks. For example, medical malpractice claims are rare in Thailand and India. If there is a mistake, chances are, it will not be fixed and multi-million dollar awards hardly exist. One 23-year-old American who was traveling in Thailand died after seeking care for a leg injury. The man's father stated, "Why is this such a good deal...You might not walk away. That's what happened to my son."
As for overseas health care, the patients themselves are responsible for investigating the hospitals and physicians. The internet offers a variety of resources to help by offering doctor bios, patient blogs, the listing of positives and negatives, and more.

Website Address: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2623881

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