Domestic Medical Tourism Also On The Rise

Tagged: Health travel, Medical Tourism

Aside from International Medical Tourism, US citizens also have the option to receive cheaper treatments on US soil, just in a different state or city.

The reason some medical facilities within the US are open to offering cheaper rates for medical treatments is that they are usually paid in advance before the operation is performed. This saves them from the trouble of collecting from an insurance company or a third-party health administrator. The medical facilities also agree to cheaper rates because the package price is negotiated beforehand. With domestic medical tourism, patients can receive medical treatments for as much as 75% off. This is also possible because rates are negotiated on a case-to-case basis. This is possible for cash patients because hospitals are very open to dealing directly with them than have to work with insurance companies or provider organizations.

Many of the companies that now offer to negotiate the rates with the hospitals used to only facilitate international medical tourism- sending American patients to foreign countries or attracting foreign patients to the US to receive treatments in the US. The service to facilitate domestic medical tourism is an answer to the demand in the market. Medical tourism facilitators have started working with local hospitals to offer domestic medical tourism that will complement international medical tourism.

Domestic medical tourism is not just ideal for cash-patients but for self-insured employers as well. Many of the facilitators of domestic medical tourism have extensive networks of medical facilities in and out of the US.