Medical Tourism for Savvy Expats
Medical Tourism for Savvy Expats
Medical tourism is a growing industry that is seeing more and more expats choosing to live abroad in other countries rather than back in the U.S. given the fact that they can experience first-class universal care for pennies in comparison to what it costs back home. While the average person will pay $6,000 a year in premiums just to have health insurance – which only cover a partial percentage of your actual medical costs should you need to visit a doctor, hospital or order medicine – in case of a rainy day, in a country like Bulgaria you can have access to health care for a mere $50 per year.
Mexico is another country where medical tourism is the main reason so many expats choose to live there, although the cost of living is another major influence. For $250 per year you can have access to the universal health care system which gives you 100% free, unlimited medicine, unlimited and free prescriptions, unlimited and free doctor visits and free exams, eyeglasses, dental work and beyond. Private health insurance is also available, as are private hospitals and doctors not covered by the universal plan, but if you are someone who wants to take advantage of medical tourism, Mexico is a great place to start.
Colombia is another country that has a similar plan to Mexico, although as an expat it depends on your “strata”, since the system in Colombia is subsidized by the government and is related to what your income is and where you live in the city. The lower your income the less you pay for access to the universal system, but most people utilizing medical tourism in Colombia have access to unlimited free health care and medicine just like in Mexico for around the same price: $250 per year.
But it’s not just those countries which appeal to expats looking to take advantage of lowered prices via medical tourism. In an article published on Time.com by Sarah Tung, the cost of a liver transplant in Taiwan is $91,000. Meanwhile, the same surgery back in the United States costs an incredible $300,000, which is more than $200,000 more. And the Archives of Internal Medicine showed in a recent report that Canada is 83% cheaper than the United States when it comes to heart surgery, yet the patient care and quality of the surgery and medicine are exactly the same.
The bottom line is that there are hundreds of countries in the world which operate on a universal health care system, and intelligent expats are choosing to live abroad and utilize medical tourism rather than face losing their savings over simple medicine and procedures that they can have for a fraction of the cost somewhere else. There is no reason to spend your life’s savings on a procedure when you can travel abroad to another country and spend significantly less to keep on enjoying your life.
medical tourism abroad
Medical tourism is a growing industry that is seeing more and more expats choosing to live abroad in other countries rather than back in the U.S. given the fact that they can experience first-class universal care for pennies in comparison to what it costs back home. While the average person will pay $6,000 a year in premiums just to have health insurance – which only cover a partial percentage of your actual medical costs should you need to visit a doctor, hospital or order medicine – in case of a rainy day, in a country like Bulgaria you can have access to health care for a mere $50 per year.
Mexico is another country where medical tourism is the main reason so many expats choose to live there, although the cost of living is another major influence. For $250 per year you can have access to the universal health care system which gives you 100% free, unlimited medicine, unlimited and free prescriptions, unlimited and free doctor visits and free exams, eyeglasses, dental work and beyond. Private health insurance is also available, as are private hospitals and doctors not covered by the universal plan, but if you are someone who wants to take advantage of medical tourism, Mexico is a great place to start.
Colombia is another country that has a similar plan to Mexico, although as an expat it depends on your “strata”, since the system in Colombia is subsidized by the government and is related to what your income is and where you live in the city. The lower your income the less you pay for access to the universal system, but most people utilizing medical tourism in Colombia have access to unlimited free health care and medicine just like in Mexico for around the same price: $250 per year.
But it’s not just those countries which appeal to expats looking to take advantage of lowered prices via medical tourism. In an article published on Time.com by Sarah Tung, the cost of a liver transplant in Taiwan is $91,000. Meanwhile, the same surgery back in the United States costs an incredible $300,000, which is more than $200,000 more. And the Archives of Internal Medicine showed in a recent report that Canada is 83% cheaper than the United States when it comes to heart surgery, yet the patient care and quality of the surgery and medicine are exactly the same.
The bottom line is that there are hundreds of countries in the world which operate on a universal health care system, and intelligent expats are choosing to live abroad and utilize medical tourism rather than face losing their savings over simple medicine and procedures that they can have for a fraction of the cost somewhere else. There is no reason to spend your life’s savings on a procedure when you can travel abroad to another country and spend significantly less to keep on enjoying your life.
medical tourism abroad