Americans have been traveling outside the United States for medical procedures for years now. The main reasons are lower surgical costs and for treatments that aren’t legal here. The biggest drawback, besides the travel, is the perception that the level of care is not as good as it is here. One of the ways to improve that stigma is to have medical personnel from the U.S. meet you in another country to perform the procedure that you need.
There’s a company, based in Denver, that is tapping into this trend. North American Specialty Hospital, or NASH, is basically a travel agent that connects patients and doctors to meet at a high-end private hospital in Cancun, Mexico. NASH mainly works with companies that self-insure their employees. They get paid a flat rate by the patient’s employer. It’s a win-win-win for the patient, the doctor, and the employer. The patient saves money, and sometimes even gets a check from their employer because they save so much on insurance costs. The doctor makes more money than if she performed the same procedure here, as much as three times more. Finally, the employer saves a lot of money because it is so much cheaper for them than if they had their employees receive the same medical treatments in the states.
Here’s the link to the NY Times article that talks about this: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/business/medical-tourism-mexico.html
Also, here is the link to Nash’s website to learn more about their company: https://northamericanspecialtyhospital.com/
Right now, there is such a small percentage of Americans opting for medical treatment outside the U.S., but with the costs of medical care and health insurance going up exponentially every year and Congress doing nothing about it, this trend might be the only viable option for a lot of people.
Joe Baker, CFP®
Baker Asset Management, LLC
joebaker@bakerassetmanagement.com
