Foreign travel for health caremight be a tough sell for brokers, but it does hold the promise ofconsiderable savings for plan sponsors and employees.(Illustration: Ivan Canu)
Medical tourism, or medical travel,historically appealed to either wealthy travelers or those unableto access experimental treatment in the U.S. Now, more brokers withself-funded clients are exploring medicaltravel as a benefits package option. It isn’t for everyone, but inthe instances where it does fit, employers and employees can bothrealize consideration savings without settling for lower qualitycare.
Medical travel for plan sponsors falls into three basic buckets:domestic, foreign and pharmaceutical. All represent opportunitiesfor substantial cost savings. If a broker is aligned with a plansponsor seeking innovative answers to plan design, all threeoptions could be exercised, depending upon the risk profile ofsponsor and plan members.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
