Using your health savings account to pay international travel

Thousands of American citizens are taking advantage of low cost and high quality hospitals by foreigners traveling abroad for medical treatment. The savings can be 75% or more, and the full cost of treatment may even be paid to the tax-free money from a health savings account.

Medical Tourism began to get popular in the 1990s, when people began to travel in large numbers in Brazil for cosmetic surgery. But as costs have continued to rise, thousands of Americans have traveled overseas real state of health, such as the knee, bypass operations, heart valve replacement, and other serious problems. Many countries see medical tourism as a way to bring in foreign money.

In many cases, the quality of available medicines abroad is equal top hospitals in the U. S. Patients are distributed at places such as the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, India, part of a 36-hospital chain founded by a cardiologist at the Massachusetts General. A heart valve replacement can cost from $ 50,000 to $ 100,000 in the United States, and only $ 12,000 in India, including travel.

Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center in New Delhi, India, is another popular tourist destination medical. It was founded by Dr. Naresh Trehan, an authority on robotic cardiac surgery formerly based at the University of New York.

Blue Cross Blue Shield has announced that they will pay for hospital treatment Bumrungrad International, in Bangkok, Thailand, for individuals from South Carolina. More than 80,000 Americans have received treatment last year. The hospital has more than 200 doctors of its board of directors are certified in Roberts, and doing a knee replacement 20% of what it would cost to the United States

Who's that?

Dodie Gilmore is 60 years rodeo barrel racing Field of Oklahoma. She runs a ranch of 180 hectares, but could not mount a horse, because she needed a hip replacement. His health insurance plan had an exclusion that would not cover its operation, and it did not really feel that the payment of $ 35,000 it would cost her. Instead, she and her partner flew to India where she had surgery at the Institut Max orthopedics and Joint Replacement.

Her doctor was Dr. S.K.S. Marya, which had an average of an American hip replacement patient each week. Dodie total of the coast, including travel, was only $ 11,000. She even managed to take a tour of the Taj Mahal.

Forty per Sixty per cent of those polled said they consider surgery abroad if it could save $ 5,000 or more. Going out of the US (and perhaps only for Mexico), could be a useful strategy if you have a waiver to the exclusion of your policy, if you are going to have elective surgery not covered by your plan health insurance, or if you have a large franchise system.

What is the risk?

According to the Institute of Medicine, more than 100,000 accidental deaths occur each year in hospitals. And it is here in the U. S. Hospitals are a dangerous place to be, and you want to spend as little of your life in one as possible. So there are risks everywhere in the world, and probably more likely outside the United States

But the magic of the free market would give you some protection. There is a lot of money flowing to countries and international practice that hospitals in high-quality medicine. If a hospital does not provide a quality service, you can bet its customers will go elsewhere, especially if they are choosing from anywhere in the world.

The influx of foreign patients (and money) is more attractive doctors trained in the West to return home, so that the choices are actually increasing, as well as the quality and prices continue to improve . I believe that if you use care in choosing your provider and structuring of your treatment, the risks are no greater than by the US surgery

How your search options

Keep in mind that most health insurance plans do not cover treatment outside the United States, especially if you travel specifically to receive medical treatment. So, check with your insurer if the cost of treatment will exceed your deductible.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations certify hospitals here in the U. S. Their international division, the International Joint Commission, certifies hospitals throughout the rest of the world. Make sure that the property you are considering has been certified by them.

Then, consult your doctor. Confirm that he or she is English and was trained in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, or Germany.

Finally, consider hiring a consultant to help you choose the best surgeon in the hospital and your needs. A good service will be put in place not only treatment, but it can also take care of all travel plans, to meet you at the airport, and to act as liaison while you are being processed.

If you spend money from your health savings account to pay for medical care, the amount you withdraw money is tax free. Health regulations savings account, you can also cover the cost of the trip if the reason why you are to get medical care is not "purely for personal reasons."

When choosing how to manage your health, you should carefully consider all your options. International travel is a great option for people with health savings accounts. Savings Accounts.