World Travel Guide

Posts Tagged ‘self-insure’

By Peter Propp

Medical Travel from the USA and Medical Tourism from the USA are growing fields as more and more consumers realize that they can get great medical care from highly trained physicians who work in countries outside the borders of the United States of America. Many corporations who self insure are also taking a closer look at the opportunity to save a great deal of money by offering a medical travel benefit to their employees. Many US corporations self-insure and are exempt from many of the obligations of the new US Healthcare bill.

But assuming you are interested in getting medical care from a clinic in another country, you still have a wide variety of options. There are already dozens of websites that offer medical travel services. Their websites are very attractive and come up high in Google search results. If you are a savvy consumer you already know that many of the sites that are claiming to provide services are actually lead generation sites that have been tuned to get a lot of traffic and distribute leads and are sending all of their leads directly to clinics out of country.

Most consumers are still hesitant about taking advantage of the benefits of medical travel from the USA. For them, dealing with a trained medical travel facilitator who is based in the United States will be an important way to make them comfortable with the many details that go into preparing for a medical travel or medical tourism procedure.

1. One Facilitator, or Many? If you are talking to multiple call center people in the process of setting up your trip, you might want to ask them about their background and how long they have been in the medical field.
2. Case Manager, or appointment setting? You are trying to make a change that will impact your future health. It is an important decision. Make sure the facilitator you are dealing with is focused on matching your needs with the right clinic. If they only offer procedures in one country, you might want to reconsider.
3. Expert or Call Center? Finally, you are right to expect that your medical travel facilitator will know a great deal about medical procedures and that if they don’t know, they will research the info and get back to you. If you are not getting the information you need, look elsewhere for your help.