Medical tourism
I first wrote about medical tourism back in 2013, when it was starting to flourish as a means of saving money on medical care. The premise was that by traveling to other countries — such as India, Mexico, Thailand and others — Americans could receive hip replacements, cardiac surgeries, dental work and other procedures at considerably lower costs than in the U.S.
Then along came COVID-19, with travel to many countries banned or severely restricted. Medical tourism has been one more viral victim.
Today’s guest post, by writer Charlie Fletcher, offers a rundown on the current state of medical tourism — as well as some shoots of hope for the future as the world’s health care and tourism fields struggle to adapt.
By Charlie Fletcher
Medical tourism — the practice of traveling to other countries for affordable medical treatments — had grown increasingly popular among Americans in recent years. Until,… Continue reading
Active travel like this European bike tour is loaded with health benefits for boomers
Most of us probably don’t travel for our health — but generally speaking, it’s a very good perk, especially for baby boomers.
Studies have shown that leisure travel can be good medicine.
There’s straight-up wellness travel, of course, such as visiting a health spa to lose weight.
But travel in and of itself can also do the job.
Here’s why:
- Travel helps reduce stress and promote relaxation by taking a break from routine.
- Travel usually results in greater physical activity, particularly walking. But you might also learn tai chi in China, practice yoga in India, or bicycle around Europe.
- Travel promotes brain health by challenging us with new and different experiences and environments. It can potentially help ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- Travel can also help ward off depression… Continue reading
Sipadan Island, Sabah, East Malaysia, might be a nice place to recover from surgery.
OK, so you need a hip replacement — lots of baby boomers do. Or you need a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), another increasingly common surgery for the baby boom generation.
If you’re an American, you could get them done in the U.S. and run up bills upwards of $80,000 for the bypass procedure or $30,000 for the hip replacement, and hope your insurance or Medicare foots the bulk of it (if you have insurance or Medicare).
Or you could travel abroad and get the same medical treatments for a fraction of the price — and maybe even have a vacation to boot.
According to the book Patients Without Borders — Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Healthcare, a CABG will cost you about $20,000 in Malaysia, while a hip replacement will run about $12,500.… Continue reading
Need a knee replacement? The medical tourist may combine surgery with a visit to the Taj Mahal.
Yes, we were once the hip generation — and we’re still pretty hip, if you ask me — but now many of us baby boomers are in the market for hip replacements. Not to mention knee replacements, heart bypasses, various forms of cosmetic surgery, and a host of other major medical procedures.
Alas, it goes with the territory of getting a little older, a little wizened, but…still wanting to remain as active and vibrant as possible for as long as possible.
And that’s where medical tourism comes in. In yesterday’s post I talked about the growth of medical tourism — traveling to other countries to have surgeries and other medical procedures done at a small fraction of what they would cost in the United States. And, as a byproduct of that less… Continue reading
Jordan’s ancient stone city of Petra — a bonus sight with heart surgery? Photo by Clark Norton
With the U.S. health care system all too much in the news right now, it’s a good time to raise the issue of medical tourism: Americans — especially baby boomers — traveling to other countries to have surgeries and other medical procedures that cost a small fraction of what they do in the U.S.
And health permitting, many of these baby boomer medical tourists are taking the opportunity to see the sights of other countries as long as they’re traveling there anyway.
The most popular countries for medical tourism include Singapore, Thailand, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jordan, Turkey and Brazil.
That’s a pretty good bucket list of foreign destinations right there.
Need a knee transplant? See the unforgettable Taj Mahal in India and get a two-fer.
A heart bypass? You could leave your… Continue reading
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