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.