Healthcare Reform is going to have a very positive effect on medical tourism.  Both Deloitte and MTA are in agreement on this exact point.  This is because healthcare reform will significantly increase the cost of health insurance in the US, and adding more uninsured will result in longer waiting times and access to care.

Some people are taking what happened with healthcare reform and trying to misrepresent it, as something negative and trying to confuse people into believing that this means US patients will stop leaving the US.  But of those people pushing this, it is clear what their motive and agenda is. They are trying to convince people healthcare reform has some form of comprehensive dental coverage, which is not true.  Dental costs in the US are extremely expensive.  Dental implants can cost anywhere from $3,000 per tooth to up to $15,000 per tooth, depending on the location in the US.  Dental insurance policies in the US only provide up to $1,000 or $1,500 per year, which means even if you have dental insurance, it won’t even cover a fraction of the cost of one dental procedure. Any dental benefits provided under healthcare reform will be very minimal and will only focus on preventative care, such as dental checkups, etc.  There are currently 120 million Americans with no dental insurance, and as mentioned above the several hundred million that do have it, have limited annual coverage.  Healthcare reform will have little effect on dental care and dental tourism and Americans leaving the US for dental care will continue to grow significantly.

There is not a declaration in healthcare reform that mentions medical tourism.  This is extremely positive for medical tourism because it means there is nothing that restricts insurance companies and employers from implementing medical tourism.  Already there has been significant interest in medical tourism from US employers and in the next few months there will be more announcements of employers implementing medical tourism because of group healthcare reform.

Caterpillar along with other large employers such as Deere Inc, have stated that healthcare reform in the first year will cost them $100 million dollars, and several large US employers are already starting to implement plans to reduce the level of healthcare benefits they offer to employees.

Some reports estimate the insurance premiums for younger Americans could rise as much as 70% under healthcare reform.  With health insurance costs already extremely expensive in the US, this means that employers and insurers will have little choice but to implement medical tourism as a way of cutting back and reducing healthcare costs.

The Medical Tourism Association

US Healthcare Reform’s Effect on the Medical Tourism Industry Webinar
Tuesday, March 30^th at 10:00 AM  

Date: March 30th 2010
Time: 10:00AM EST/9:00AM CST/7:00AM PST
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/935878186 

US Healthcare Reform was signed into law March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama. Healthcare Reform is expected to have a very positive effect on medical tourism and significantly grow the medical tourism industry. Under the Healthcare Reform, the costs of health insurance in the US will increase substantially.

Come Join the MTA’s Healthcare Reform’s Effect on Medical Tourism Webinar, Tuesday March 30th at 10:00 AM (US Eastern Standard Time) to learn about the different aspects of the Healthcare Reform that will increase health insurance costs for individuals, insurance companies and employers.  Also, learn why the Healthcare Reform is not going to lower the costs for health insurance or healthcare in the US and how it may lead to long waiting periods for surgical procedures as seen in countries such as the UK and Canada.

On Thursday, March 25th, 2010, at 10:00 AM, the Medical Tourism Association conducted an educational webinar on the new US Health Reform Bill and talked about some of the important and positive effects we can expect to see in the medical tourism industry.  CEO of the MTA, Jonathan Edelheit, led the webinar and discussed different aspects of the Healthcare Reform that will increase health insurance costs for individuals, insurance companies and employers. The webinar proved to be a huge success, bringing in a record number of listeners.

Join us Tuesday, March 30th at 10:00 AM for another opportunity to see this live webcast and gain valuable information. 

Please register at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/935878186

Thank you,

The Medical Tourism Association

 US Healthcare Reform’s Effect on the Medical Tourism Industry Webinar, March 30^th, at 10:00 AM

Join Us For a Webinar on March 30^th. 

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/935878186

US Healthcare Reform was signed into law March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama.  Healthcare Reform is expected to have a very positive effect on medical tourism and significantly grow the medical tourism industry.  Under the Healthcare Reform, the costs of health insurance in the US will increase substantially.  Come Join the MTA’s Healthcare Reform’s Effect on Medical Tourism Webinar, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 30th at 10 a.m. (US Eastern Standard Time) to learn about the different aspects of the Healthcare Reform that will increase health insurance costs for individuals, insurance companies and employers.  Also, learn why the Healthcare Reform is not going to lower the costs for health insurance or healthcare in the US and how it may lead to long waiting periods for surgical procedures as seen in countries such as the UK and Canada.

Webinar, Tuesday, March 30th at 10 a.m. (US Eastern Standard Time)

Title: US Healthcare Reform’s Effect on The Medical Tourism Industry Webinar, March 30, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Time: 10:00AM-11:00AM EDT

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Thank you,

The Medical Tourism Association

Those living in, owning a business in, or simply visiting San Francisco have already begun feeling the effects of health insurance changes.  For over a year now, small businesses have been forced to provide health insurance to their employees and have very grudgingly cooperated.  Some restaurant owners are being forced to add an additional fee onto their checks, whether it be a percentage of the entire check or a flat fee, in order to front the cost of this law.  They argue that this will affect tourism in the city and therefore contribute to the economic recession.  Watch  the video below for more details…

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/24/on-the-check-food-drinks-health-care/

Yours in good health,

 Sarah

US Healthcare Reform’s Effect on the Medical Tourism Industry Webinar
March 25^th, at 10:00 AM

US Healthcare Reform was signed into law March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama.  Healthcare Reform is expected to have a very positive effect on medical tourism and significantly grow the medical tourism industry.  Under the Healthcare Reform, the costs of health insurance in the US will increase substantially.  Come Join the MTA’s Healthcare Reform’s Effect on Medical Tourism Webinar, tomorrow, Thursday, March 25th at 10 a.m. (US Eastern Standard Time) to learn about the different aspects of the Healthcare Reform that will increase health insurance costs for individuals, insurance companies and employers.  Also, learn why the Healthcare Reform is not going to lower the costs for health insurance or healthcare in the US and how it may lead to long waiting periods for surgical procedures as seen in countries such as the UK and Canada.

 Please access this website to register and enjoy!
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/566888187 

Please Note: This Webinar will Broadcast at two different times and dates for your convenience:

Thursday, March 25th at 10:00 AM (US Eastern Standard Time)
Tuesday, March 30th at 10:00 AM (US Eastern Standard Time)

 Thank you,

The Medical Tourism Association

Date: March 25th 2010
Time: 10:00AM EST/9:00AM CST/7:00AM PST
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/566888187 
US Healthcare Reform was signed into law March 23rd, 2010 by President Barak Obama.  Healthcare Reform is expected to have a very positive effect on medical tourism and significantly grow the medical tourism industry.  Under the Healthcare Reform, the costs of health insurance in the US will increase substantially.  Come Join the MTA’s Healthcare Reform’s Effect on Medical Tourism Webinar, tomorrow, Thursday, March 25th at 10 a.m. (US Eastern Standard Time) to learn about the different aspects of the Healthcare Reform that will increase health insurance costs for individuals, insurance companies and employers.  Also, learn why the Healthcare Reform is not going to lower the costs for health insurance or healthcare in the US and how it may lead to long waiting periods for surgical procedures as seen in countries such as the UK and Canada.

This Webinar will Broadcast two times at the dates and times listed below:

Thursday, March 25th at 10:00 AM (US Eastern Standard Time)
Tuesday, March 30th at 10:00 AM (US Eastern Standard Time)

Thank you,

The Medical Tourism Association

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal talks about the healthcare reform bill, listing 5 reasons why he thinks the bill is bad for Louisiana and bad for our country.  He also states Obama missed the chance to decrease the cost of healthcare, in a big way.  He is only one of about a dozen states fighting this bill, calling it unconstitutional to mandate individuals to purchase health insurance.  Check it out below.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/03/22/sot.jindal.hc.bill.wafb?iref=allsearch

Yours in good health,

Sarah

Tom O’Hara, President of Surgical Trip, speaks with the Medical Tourism Magazine regarding completion of the Medical Tourism Facilitator Certification Program. The Medical Tourism Association recently announced the first medical tourism facilitators to be certified by the MTA. Surgical Trip is one of three medical facilitators to receive certification.

Medical Tourism Facilitators are organizations that are involved in the coordination of patient care for patients traveling from one country to another. The certification process, which can take up to 120 days to complete, is a detailed procedure developed by healthcare leaders from around the world in an effort to create best practices in the medical tourism industry. The key to the MTA’s program is transparency in the services being offered to international patients, http://medicaltourismassociation.com/certification.html.

The benefits of certification are numerous, focusing on improvement in your processes for handling foreign patients. Certification will also attract international insurance companies and employers to your organization. Don’t miss this important educational podcast by going to the Medical Tourism Magazine website to listen at http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/interview.php?Req=32.

For more information regarding the Medical Tourism Association’s Certification Program, contact Jessica Johnson at Jessica@medicaltourismassociation.com or call (561) 791-2000.

The Medical Tourism Association is the first international non-profit association made up of the top international hospitals, healthcare providers, medical travel facilitators, insurance companies, and other affiliated companies and members with the common goal of promoting the highest level of quality of healthcare to patients in a global environment. Our Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitators members. The Medical Tourism Association has three tenets: Transparency, Communication and Education, http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com/.

Yours in Good Health,

Sarah

Hi Everyone!

This is Jessica Johnson, Director of Operations, for the MTA. The Medical Tourism Association was delighted to participate in the Familiarization “FAM” Tour in the beautiful country of Chihuahua, Mexico. The goal of a Medical Tourism Familiarization Tour is to highlight the quality of care within the specific region.  One of the main reasons is to introduce the region as a destination for medical tourism and to generate an interest from “buyers” to send patients to the hospitals and clinics visited on the tour. During your trip you will visit hospitals and clinics, and also engage in tourism activities that a potential patient may enjoy.   The trips are fully funded by the providers or government organizing the tour and so the delegation participating in the tour has no out of pocket costs.The FAM Tour took place January 2010. To read more about Chihuahua and what they have to offer as a medical destination click the link below.

http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/detail.php?Req=325&issue=16 

Hope you Enjoy!

Jessica

**If you have any questions on the Medical Tourism Associations FAM Tours, please contact me at jessica@medicaltourismassociation.com