Medical Tourism News Roundup!

Medical Tourism isn't just growing - it's exploding! If we somehow missed clarity, medical tourism is taking a trip abroad to find necessary or elective medical or surgical procedures at a much better price point. Like buying your prescriptions from Canada, but a little more involved.

Just in the last week we've seen a great number of news stories pop up on the web and I'll be tracking these stories every Wednesday and rounding up the important points to let you follow what the media is saying about the amazing world of medical tourism.

Most notably, Oprah has published a guide to medical tourism on her website that walks through most of the different procedures and options that are available abroad.

The New York Times addresses the subject of medical tourism in the shadow of current health care legislation in place. Their verdict?

No matter what Congress does with health care legislation in the next few weeks, one thing is already clear: the result will not do much to control the climbing costs of medical care in the United States.

And that is why many employers and insurance companies may seek savings by encouraging patients to travel abroad for treatment.

Offshore medical care is usually significantly less expensive than in the United States, and the wait times are often shorter. A heart operation that might cost $130,000 in this country could cost $18,500 in Singapore or $10,000 in India.

As communication and commerce becomes easier between great distances, borders dissolve and popping over to Mexico for a gastric sleeve surgery does not come across as that daunting.

From Reuters:

The World Egg Bank (TWEB), an international
agency for the donation of human eggs to infertile women, announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with a European fertility clinic to provide American women with in vitro fertilization (IVF) of donated frozen eggs at or less than the cost of staying home for such treatment.

If you were not aware of how much this industry has grown, check out the report on The Medical Tourism Association's 2nd annual World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress:

Over 60 countries participated in the conference which focused on the high quality of care and the investment in healthcare throughout the world. The conference also featured Ministers' Roundtable where Ministers of Health and Tourism addressed the opportunities and challenges of the industry in their respective countries.

We'll be bringing relevant headlines every week with some commentary as to what you should expect in the ever-growing field of medical travel and tourism.