YPartnership is informing travel planners about the solid trend for health tourism among US travelers. Health or medical tourism is defined as travel to another country to receive medical, surgical or dental care for either personal or financial reasons. The YPartnership 2010 Portrait of American Travelers shows that 50% of leisure travelers are now familiar with the concept of health tourism, and 17% would consider having a medical procedure done outside the US, assuming it is of comparable quality. Another 22% is not sure, suggesting they would be open to considering this as an alternative.
The escalating cost of major medical care in the US is the primary motive. Of those taking medical tourism trips, 84% cite the lower cost as the primary reason for their decision. The bulletin points out that savings can be up to 70%.
Of those polled who have gone on medical tourism trips, 66% mention having received comparable or even better quality of care. And 43% cite access to medical treatments or procedures that are not covered by their insurance at home. 41% mention shorter waiting periods to access care. 22% cite access to experimental or non-FDA approved treatments and/or concerns about privacy (20%).
YPartnership mentions that 7% of US travelers would be interested in traveling to Puerto Rico for major medical care where the financial incentives are comparable and the travel time considerably less. The survey says that Canada is the number one choice among the top 10 countries. Others are: UK, Germany, Sweden, France, Mexico, India, Singapore, Costa Rica and Brazil.
http://blog.ypartnership.com/?p=315