Medical tourism has been growing year on year for decades with no sign of slowing down. The increasing popularity of medical tourism is largely due to our image-focused culture, coupled with globalisation. Even 10 years ago, travel was expensive. Today, for example, a flight from the UK to Brazil for implants is more accessible for the everyday person. This means you can travel for a hair transplant London, teeth whitening in Budapest or a tummy tuck in Thailand, but what are the best countries for overseas medical tourism and why should you go?
Where Is It Cheaper To Get Non-Essential Medical Treatments?
It’s not news that western medicine is extremely expensive. This means many Brits and Americans have taken to travelling to nearby countries for their non-essential and cosmetic medical procedures. Typically, these countries have a much lower cost of living that economically established western countries, including India, Turkey, and Mexico.
These countries have thrived on a supply-and-demand basis because patients want to make their money go further they frequently travel for treatments that are not covered by insurance plans or public healthcare institutions. This means that the quality of care and the level of skill for medical care is highly accomplished in these areas. It is quite typical for some countries to carve out a specific specialty or reputation for individual procedures.
Travelling For Specialist Doctors
Both the UK and the United States have the best record of doctors and surgeons in the world. This is measured by the level of experience, the standard of education and the quality of performance and results. As we have already mentioned, some country’s surgeons develop a reputation for a niche area for expertise. This could mean that the best possible results for your desired (or necessary procedure) could be in another country.
Avoid Long Waiting Lists
Some countries have extremely overworked or outdated health resources. For many, this means that desirable procedures have an extremely long waiting list. Regulations for procedures also come into play.
For example, some countries require you to live in your true gender and stick to a hormonal regiment for two years, before you are even eligible for gender reassignment surgery. Some referrals for trans patients also take more than a year. As a result, Thailand has become a hotspot for this kind of surgery, meaning that the surgeons are now the best in the world. The cost of surgery is much, much lower than in the USA and other western countries and it is much easier and quicker to qualify.
Insurance Incentives
Some insurance companies now offer their clients to go abroad when they are seeking medical care. This is because the costs are lower, which means it works out cheaper for the insurance company so they can make even more profit. To incentivise patients to take even more time out of their lives to travel for necessary surgery or care, they offer premium facilities, such as lovely hotels, plane journeys, and subsidies. This cost-saving tactic for insurance companies is likely to fuel an increase in corporate medical tourism around the world. The interesting thing to consider is what that will do to the quality of medical care in the first world, western countries over time, especially those countries that are currently ranked highest.
