Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Medical Tourism' On The Rise: 1.4M Expected To Travel Outside U.S. For Health Care
Despite the risks, more Americans are expected to go abroad this year for medical procedures to save money while visiting another country. And a few employers and insurers encourage the practice.
Health care has become so expensive in the United States that a growing number of Americans (and their employers) are finding it more cost efficient to fly across the globe for certain medical procedures. The savings are so great 鈥 and the quality high enough 鈥 that a handful of American insurance companies are now encouraging the practice and covering the travel and treatment costs. Medical tourism鈥 was valued at about $439 billion last year in a new report by Visa and Oxford Economics, which projected that it could grow 25 percent a year over the next decade. (Braverman, 8/17)
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