Seniors tend to have more medical needs than most other groups. With having more medical needs comes having more medical bills, and the bills can pile up quickly. For seniors with no health insurance, inadequate insurance, or even those with perfectly good insurance, sometimes the cost of receiving medical care locally is far too high. Although they may not be aware of it, medical tourism is the perfect opportunity for seniors needing low cost medical care and surgeries.
What is Medical Tourism?
Medical tourism, also called health tourism, is the practice of traveling to a foreign country with the primary purpose of receiving medical care at a foreign facility. While this may sound unsafe to those unfamiliar with the practice, there are a number of ways to ensure that everything is above board. These can include utilizing a medical travel agency, going to a JCI accredited facility or hospital, and securing medical tourism insurance before your trip. Along with top quality medical treatments, medical tourists also get to engage in the tourism aspect! While they recover from their treatments, they get to explore a foreign country. So, how can medical tourism be beneficial for seniors?
Top Advantages of Medical Tourism for Seniors
Cost Savings
The number one reason why seniors choose to travel abroad to receive medical care is because of the cost savings they can receive. Even including the cost of travel and accommodation, seniors from countries like the US, Canada, and the UK can expect to save up to 90% of what they would have paid for the medical care alone in their home country. The amount of cost savings all depends on where the medical traveler goes. For a patient from the US, traveling to Mexico is incredibly convenient. Mexico has some excellent healthcare centers and hospitals, and depending on the type of care received–this could be anything from a dental checkup to a hip surgery–the patient could save 35-70% on the cost of care. However, that same patient could see even greater savings if they traveled to somewhere like India, where up to 90% savings can potentially be seen.
