Medical Tourism / International PPO | The Lungen Group

Medical Tourism / International PPO | The Lungen Group: " As healthcare in the United States has been changing rapidly over the past few decades, so has the manner in which healthcare has been provided, billed and paid. There is an increasing need to reach beyond our domestic borders to the international community for certain medical procedures, treatment and care at more affordable costs to consumers, benefit plan payers/administrators and re-insurers. The quest for premium quality medical care at lower costs with satisfactory outcomes beyond the United States is already underway and now classified as 'medical tourism.' As more Americans seek care in foreign countries, they also search for destinations that offer the high standards they have come to expect from their domestic healthcare system."

So far, most medical tourists travel of their own accord. They are usually self-funded and payout of their own pocket for their medical care. They are often affluential ; and find alternative solutions to their medical problems using the internet. This is why the number of medical tourists has just been a trickle so far.

However, once HMOs and insurance companies in the USA start realising the huge financial savings they can achieve by sending their members overseas for elective surgery, this trickle will soon become a flood !