ANOTHER WAY TO BEAT HEALTH CARE INFLATION?
Some years back, there was lots of chatter about medical tourism.
A behind the scenes visit this week to Health City Grand Cayman informs that ‘movement’
is re-emerging. (Hey, some Benefits Consultants go the extra mile!)
In a presentation preceding our tour, developer and savant Gene Thompson
dazzled our Study Group with numbers like
- You can build a JCI accredited hospital for $432,000/bed. (Norm is north of $1 million; some cost $4.6 million.)
- The all-in cost of knee replacement surgery is $15,750; i.e., Health City ‘eats’ (certifiably rare) mistakes/complications. (Here of course, they’re a revenue ‘opportunity!’)
- Executive Wellness visits are $2500. (Do people really pay five times more to go to Rochester?)
- Drugs prices 60-90% less than stateside. Example: Humira at $1,300/month easily justifies travel costs for the physician consult.
I could go on.
Given most of our fully insured clients (both small group and individual) will stay in network, Medical Tourism is arguably an opportunity for larger self-funded employers.
But what about treatments not covered by ‘traditional’ plans?
Savvy Tip readers may recall Critical Illness Insurance could (literally) be a life-saver and even finance a stay on Seven Mile Beach!
Ho, hum. Back to the desk tomorrow.
