It's not necessary to get on a plane to India to take advantage of the savings that medical tourism can provide. Patients can realize savings of 25-70% or more just by shopping around via the Internet. Yes a road trip might be necessary, but isn't it worth your time to drive 50 or even 200 miles to save $1000 or more? Maybe the wrong people are reading this, but unless you make over $250,000 per year; a day of work doesn't pay $1000. Saving $1000 on high end diagnostics or an operative procedure is easy.
First you need the tools to find the real price; the price that you will actually pay, not what a provider charges. Insurance companies and providers have a contractual relationship that disallows most providers from sharing negotiated discounts. If you don't have insurance the process is easier, but either way, you'll need to do your share of the research. The best place to start is the Internet.
Websites like outofpocket.com or your insurance company's site are the best places to start. They'll provide local prices for common procedures. If you don't like what you find there, then use search engines to look for the service you need based on price. Questions like "How much does an MRI cost?" will likely yield the results you need. I mention MRIs because it's something I know a great deal about. I own/run an MRI clinic that offers any MRI for a flat rate of $600 to every patient regardless of how they pay, insurance or not.
We have patients travel from out of our area on a regular basis. Recently we had a patient drive all the way from Minneapolis (We're located in Milwaukee). She reports to have saved almost $2500 for her trouble. In the past, patients have flown in from Texas, Colorado and Canada. American patients said that they were able to fly into Milwaukee, rent a car, stay in a hotel, go out for a great meal, and still have money left in their pockets from the savings. Canadian patients were happy to pay the $600 to have their scan months before they would have in Canada. The one thing that all of these patient/consumers have in common is that they found us on the Internet.
MRIs are just one example of a medical product where shopping around can save thousands. Nearly every medical procedure has an enormous range in price. Research is the key to savings, and the Internet makes shopping over a larger geographic area feasible. One word of warning, be certain to confirm any price you find on the Internet for any medical product or procedure, and be certain to verify quality before you travel anywhere (even across the street) in an effort to save money. Low quality medical services are not a value at any price.
Don't forget to buy me a T-shirt if/when you do decide to take advantage of medical tourism, my favorite is the old standby- "My friend went to Milwaukee and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" The savings will be all yours!
-- Contributed by Eric Haberichter
Eric Haberichter is co-founder of Smart Choice MRI, an outpatient health care facility that specializes in MRI services. Eric is passionate about quality and value in healthcare. He enjoys spending time with his family, practicing martial arts and enjoying the outdoors. Be sure to check out Eric’s new blog, The Debunker- Truth in Healthcare.
If you need to have a non-emergency MRI and live within driving distance of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, be sure to contact Eric at Smart Choice MRI. His outpatient facility will only charge you $600 for your MRI, regardless of who is paying the bill.