By Jessica Yarbrough, Marketing & Communications Manager of Satori World Medical

Last Tuesday’s 14-9 vote in the Senate Finance Committee to move the fifth and final healthcare reform proposal through the panel brought the nation closer than ever before to assuring quality and affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans.

An important provision of the healthcare reform program is to create a new insurance marketplace – the Exchange – that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices. Additionally, new tax credits will be provided to help people purchase insurance and to help small businesses cover their employees.

“The Obama Plan: Stability & Security for all Americans” summarizes the Obama Administration’s key objectives for comprehensive health reform:

• Reduce long-term growth of healthcare costs for businesses and government
• Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of healthcare costs
• Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans
• Invest in prevention and wellness
• Improve patient safety and quality of care
• Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans
• Maintain coverage when individuals change or lose their job
• End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions

So how does global healthcare fit in?

As an active member of the global healthcare industry, one key topic of debate has been how healthcare reform will affect the demand for global healthcare programs.

In looking at how well aligned the guiding principles of medical travel are with the objectives of U.S. healthcare reform, I’m even more confident that medical travel will continue to play an integral role in bringing quality, affordable healthcare to Americans.

President Obama’s proposed $900 billion healthcare reform package promises to control rising healthcare costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and ensure high-quality healthcare. Each of these key objectives is achieved by global healthcare programs, such as Satori World Medical.

• Ability to control rising healthcare costs: The costs of healthcare internationally are substantially lower than the costs of comparable care in U.S. hospitals, on average 40-80 percent less per procedure (which factors in the costs of travel and accommodations for the patient and a companion). As such, medical travel programs offer employers the opportunity to control the rising costs of healthcare and make affordable healthcare options available to their employees.

Satori World Medical, for example, is designed to be added to any employee benefit plan design at no cost to the employer. Additionally, the employee receiving care through the Satori Global Network™ is provided with a 100 percent medical benefit, which includes no responsibility for any of out-of-pocket expenses, such as co-pays, deductibles, etc. One feature that is also unique only to Satori World Medical is the ability for employers to share a portion of the savings of global healthcare with their employee who elects to receive care through the Satori Global Network™. Typically, the employer will deposit funds into the employee’s Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). The deposits in the HRA are tax-free to the employee and tax-deductible to the employer. The funds deposited can then be used by the employee to offset his or her future out-of-pocket medical expenses.

• Ensure High-Quality Care: The growing access to high-quality medical care outside the U.S. has been one of the most important reasons for the increased interest in medical travel programs in the U.S. There are more than 200 Joint Commission International (JCI)-accredited hospitals around the world, many of which have quality standards that rival leading U.S. hospitals. These institutions are staffed by U.S./U.K. or equivalently trained and Board Certified physicians and registered nurses that are fluent in English. They also offer state-of-the-art medical equipment and techniques, spacious private rooms with modern amenities, and excellent patient care and quality outcomes. Therefore, while the costs of care internationally are significantly lower than in the U.S., patients still have access to some of the best care in the world.

As U.S. healthcare reform becomes a closer reality for America, I am optimistic that the fundamental changes it offers will only further fuel the demand for global healthcare programs.