new era of adventure travel: medical tourism

Recently, I freelanced on a campaign for spare body parts, trying to get patients needing replacements to ask docs for them by name (who knew knees and hips are now being branded?!) So I was alert to a rather alarming article in The Economist reporting a new kind of tourism.


Last year, 750,000 Americans travelled abroad for medical treatment, and not just to Caracas for a nip and tuck. They're going to Singapore and Thailand and India for hip and heart surgeries, hysterectomies, shoulder angioplasties. The number is expected to soar to 6 million in two years. Why? Most people find it cheaper to fly overseas and pay for an operation than to shell out for deductibles and co-payments charged for the same procedure at home. 

Corporate benefits offices, of course, are encouraging this. Hannaford, a grocery chain, now offers its employees the option of saving $3000 in copayments by getting their medical procedures done in nearby...Singapore. Not to miss out on the action, Aetna is brokering deals with hospitals there.

So if the thought of getting a D&C in Hyderabad alarms you, you might want to read the fine print on your company's benefits policy.

maybe we shouldn't be outsourcing our customer service to india

Irani Cafe, Hyderabad, India










via DKR via coming anarchy via triptouch