What is Medical Travel and What do Companies Need to Know to Incorporate a Global Healthcare Benefit into their Employee Plan Design

By Steven Lash, President & Chief Executive Officer, Satori World Medical

Medical travel, whereby Americans travel to international hospitals to receive medical care outside the U.S., is becoming an increasingly viable option, not only for American patients, but for U.S. employers and insurers, as well.

According to the 2008 Deloitte Survey of Health Care Consumers, the medical tourism industry is poised to grow substantially over the next decade. The survey reports that medical tourism will be a $4.4 billion industry by 2009 and increase to $13.9 billion by 2011. The report also forecasts that by 2010, six million Americans will travel abroad for medical care, compared to the 750,000 Americans who received medical care outside of the U.S. in 2007.

Why?
In addition to skyrocketing healthcare costs and rising insurance premiums, a combination of factors has led to a substantial increase in the popularity of medical travel: favorable clinical outcome results in high quality accredited international hospitals; the escalating cost of healthcare in the US; an increase in a patient’s own healthcare expenses; the ease and affordability of international travel; significant improvements in technology, hospitals, physician and nurse training; and overall demonstrable improvements in the transparency, measurement and quantification of the standards of care available globally.

Despite the growing popularity of medical travel, though, one of the biggest challenges that I observe from employers who I speak to about this is that they don’t exactly know how or where to start when it comes to incorporating a global healthcare benefit option into their company’s overall employee benefit plan design. Therefore, I hope this blog post will provide some valuable guidance and insight into the key benefits of medical travel to an employer and how employee benefit decision-makers can start offering a global healthcare benefit option to their employees.

Why Medical Travel?
For an employer, there are a number of compelling reasons to consider medical travel. Among the most significant are:

• Dramatic cost savings: On average, there is a cost savings in excess of 50 percent to receiving medical care outside of the U.S. In turn, employers can dramatically lower their employees’ healthcare expenses. Employers can pass a portion of these significant saving on to their employees. With Satori World Medical’s innovative Health & Shared Wealth Program™, an individual can select a Satori Global Network™ provider for their medical procedure, and a portion of the savings is deposited into their employer-funded Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). Employees can use these funds to finance their future medical expenses. What’s more, the funds are 100 percent tax deductible for the employer while tax free to the employee. Additionally, it is important to note that this is a 100 percent medical benefit so there are no out-of-pocket expenses for the employee, and the package includes all travel and accommodations for the patient and his or her companion. And for the employer, there is no startup cost to add this global healthcare benefit to their existing plan design.

• Superior medical quality, safety and patient care: Many hospitals in other parts of the world offer quality care and favorable clinical outcomes that are equivalent or superior to U.S. hospitals. International medical quality and safety are simply not an issue. Hundreds of international hospitals are now accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), an arm of the U.S. hospital-accrediting body, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). These hospitals have leading-edge technology; nurse-to-patient ratios exceeding U.S. standards; U.S./U.K. or equivalently trained and Board Certified physicians; medical and nursing staff that is fluent in English; as well as affiliations with prestigious U.S. medical universities, such as Harvard Medical, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic and others.

• U.S. companies can compete better globally: Global healthcare models result in major economic benefits for U.S. companies because the costs of their employees’ healthcare are greatly reduced. As a result, companies can be more profitable and competitive in today’s global marketplace.

• Employee retention and satisfaction: An organization’s financial strength is built and reinforced by reducing costs and investing in the financial security and well-being of its workforce. Therefore, companies that offer a global healthcare benefit option to their employees can greatly strengthen the overall morale and productivity of their workforce. As a result, companies are able to recruit more qualified and talented job candidates, as well as improve employee loyalty and retention.

• Seamless integration with any existing medical plan: A global healthcare benefit program can be seamlessly added to an employer’s existing employee benefit program and without any startup costs for the employer. An employer’s existing health benefit program isn’t replaced, but rather augments the current benefit package to provide employees with an additional choice and new medical benefit at no cost.

• Single bill for employee claims: When considering the implementation of a global healthcare benefit program, one common concern among employers is whether or not significant internal resources and staff to administer patient claims and billing are involved. Programs such as the one offered by Satori World Medical meets this challenge by handling the entire billing process for the employer, in which a single bill in U.S. dollars is provided for all services rendered, thus reducing company claims processing costs and with no foreign currency exchange fluctuations.

Getting Started
If you, as the employer, have decided that a medical travel program might be right for your company or organization, the first step is to find the right program.

Many medical travel providers or companies cater to patients who are uninsured, so their model is primarily focused on providing medical care at the lowest possible cost to the patient. It is important to assure that the organization meets certain quality standards. One way to determine the quality of a particular international hospital is to look for the JCI accreditation or seal of approval. JCI sets over 350 standards of excellence for international hospitals to meet that ensure the quality and safety of patient care.

In addition, when selecting a medical travel company, it is important for you as the employer to be educated about what services and fees are or are not covered. For instance, are the patient’s costs of travel and transportation fully included in the benefit program? How about the costs for a companion? Are there any deductibles or direct out-of-pocket costs required for the employee? What about start-up costs and administration fees?

Ultimately, there are a number of important reasons why employers should consider offering a global healthcare benefit program to their employees. While a medical travel program is not meant to replace the need for a domestic employer-funded healthcare benefit plan, it can help companies drastically reduce their employees’ medical costs, while at the same time, offer employees more choice and control over their healthcare and medical expenditures.

Observations from the 4th Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Congress in Washington, DC, Feb. 3-5

By Keith Mendoza, Director of Sales, Satori World Medical

I recently attended the 4^th Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Congress (EHHC) in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3-5, to get insight into the key topics and issues of most importance to human resource (HR) and employee benefit decision-makers in America today. To no surprise, one of the biggest focus areas was how companies can reduce their employee benefit costs, and in particular, employee healthcare costs, while still offering them the variety of healthcare choices and services that will meet their individual needs.

With healthcare spending now in the trillions and escalating, coupled by the current economic recession, cutting costs was clearly top of mind with the hundreds of HR professionals from around the country who were in attendance at the conference. But despite the grim reality of our country’s economic state and the pressure on companies to reduce their cost and employee benefit levels across the board, I am happy to report there is an alternative solution. Companies can still dramatically lower employees’ healthcare benefit costs, without sacrificing quality or eliminating choice.

How, you ask? A promising concept is medical tourism, whereby patients actually travel internationally to a location and hospital of choice to receive top quality healthcare and medical procedures that cost on average 50 percent less than within the U.S. What’s more, they can benefit from their choice as a consumer and get thousands of dollars deposited into their employer-funded Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for undergoing a procedure internationally.

An interesting concept for sure, but who is embracing this? Hundreds of thousands of patients are in fact, in addition to more and more U.S. employers. The Deloitte 2008 Survey of U.S. Health Care Consumers forecasts the medical travel industry to grow to $13.9 billion by 2011. For instance, Portland, Maine-based Hannaford Bros. supermarkets offer all of its 27,000 employees a medical travel benefit program, whereby they can travel internationally to undergo a medical procedure such as a defibrillator or knee replacement.

On the third day of the conference, I actually had the opportunity to speak about medical tourism and how today’s employers are integrating global healthcare into their overall employee benefit design. Our discussions explored innovative financing strategies and benefit plan design options, as well as outlined the potential financial advantages of a medical tourism benefit for the employer and employees. Below are some of the main points presented.

• Dramatic financial savings for all stakeholders: Employers can dramatically lower their employees’ healthcare expenses on high cost non-emergent medical procedures with a medical travel program because the costs of undergoing a medical procedure internationally is often 50 percent less than in the U.S. By participating in Satori World Medical’s innovative Health & Shared Wealth Program™, for instance, not only does the employer save money but the employee does as well because whenever a patient undergoes a procedure within the Satori Global Network™, he or she will actually receive thousands of dollars into a HRA which is funded by their employer. These funds can then be used to pay for their future medical expenses. What’s more, for the employee it is tax free and for the employer it’s 100 percent tax deductible. Additionally, it’s important to note that the patient is responsible for zero deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses, and all transportation and hotel costs for the patient and a companion are 100% paid for too.
• Major cost savings without compromising quality: Medical quality and safety internationally is not an issue. Hundreds of international hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), an arm of the U.S. hospital-accrediting body, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). These hospitals also have leading-edge technology; nurse-to-patient ratios exceeding U.S. standards; U.S./U.K. or equivalently trained and Board Certified physicians; medical staff that is fluent in English; many have affiliations with prestigious U.S. medical universities, such as Harvard Medical, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic and others. However, it’s important that employers choose a global vendor like Satori World Medical with a robust medical quality program which focuses on excellent patient outcomes and experiences because they are not all created equal.
• Importance of consumer choice:According to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, employers and health plans recognize that unless consumers are more engaged in decisions about their health and the costs associated with those decisions, costs will continue to soar. Plans that promote consumerism and engage and reward the consumer to make choices on quality and cost are vital
• Integrating and managing a global healthcare benefit program: A common concern of employers when it comes to offering a global healthcare benefit program is that it will be difficult to integrate into their existing employee benefit plan design, and then to manage. However, that’s not the case. For example, Satori World Medical can be seamlessly added to an existing employee benefit plan design with no initial startup costs or monthly fee for the employer, whatsoever. Additionally, once the program is in place the employer does not need to worry about processing any confusing or complex international claims, program administration, billing, etc. Everything is handled by Satori World Medical. Satori provides a single bill for all services in U.S. dollars.

In conclusion, despite the fact that U.S. employers are faced with an economic recession and the tough decision about which employee benefits to cut, with options like medical travel, they can still offer a compelling healthcare benefit program that will keep their employees satisfied. Global healthcare is happening now and today’s most innovative companies are embracing it.

By Ron Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S. –Chief Medical Officer, Satori World Medical

February is American Heart Month, and not just because of Valentine’s Day.  Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease, stroke and other vascular problems, is one of the deadliest and costliest health problems in the U.S.  The American Heart Association works with Congress to educate Americans about this epidemic and raise awareness throughout the month of February.  Today, I want to focus on three issues, prevention, treatment, and international options.

1.     The good news is that heart disease is preventable.  Some risk factors can’t be changed, such as family history of early heart disease, or your age.  But most risk factors can be controlled.  Here are a few tips for preventing heart disease.

• Don’t smoke – smoking reduces blood flow to the heart and can lead to a heart attack.
• Eat healthy – obesity increases the risk of heart disease, as well as stroke and other diseases; and a low calorie, heart healthy diet will also help lower your cholesterol.
• Be physically active – commit to at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week, and if you have high blood pressure or diabetes (which are also key risk factors for heart disease), work with your physician to keep them under control.

2.     If you do get heart disease - and some forms, such as congenital CVD or viral cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), are not preventable – there are excellent treatments available, with medical therapy, angioplasty with stents and cardiac surgery offering dramatic results in many cases.  However, there is a cost.  An estimated 6.4 million cardiac procedures were performed in the U.S. in 2004, with nearly $438 BILLION spent on cardiac care in the U.S.  Needing heart surgery and not having health insurance (47 million Americans are currently uninsured) can be a disaster.  But even with health insurance, the high deductibles and co-pays may leave you facing $5,000 to $10,000, or more in out of pocket expense.

3.     Top quality healthcare for heart disease can be obtained internationally at a fraction of the cost than within the U.S.  One option Americans have which is becoming increasingly popular is medical travel, whereby Americans travel to international hospitals to receive quality medical care at a fraction of the cost than within the U.S. 

For instance, a patient in need of a heart valve replacement can travel to a hospital in Singapore, such as those within Satori’s Global Network™, to receive open heart surgery in a hospital that offers quality care and favorable clinical outcomes that are equivalent or superior to U.S. hospitals, yet for an average cost of 30 to 50 percent less. 

Satori World Medical’s international hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), which is the international arm of the U.S. hospital-accrediting body, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).  These hospitals also boast leading-edge technology; have nurse-to-patient ratios exceeding U.S. standards; U.S./U.K. or equivalently trained and Board Certified physicians;  medical and nursing staff that is fluent in English; and many also have affiliations with prestigious U.S. medical universities, such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, and others.

Heart Month is a good time to look at your risk factors, keep your heart healthy, and if you do have heart disease, know your treatment options!