Predictions that American corporate and insurer paid medical tourism would be substantial, have been dealt a body blow by one large national employer agreeing to send all those needing heart surgery to one Cleveland hospital. For four years, some agencies and experts have been predicting that it is only a matter of time before businesses and insurers send thousands of Americans overseas for surgery.
Predictions that American corporate and insurer paid medical tourism would be substantial, have been dealt a body blow by one large national employer agreeing to send all those needing heart surgery to one Cleveland hospital.
For four years, some agencies and experts have been predicting that it is only a matter of time before businesses and insurers send thousands of Americans overseas for surgery. Hannaford Brothers, often mentioned at conferences as a prime example of a company that has agreed to pay for employees going overseas, has in three years sent nobody overseas. A handful of smaller firms have agreed deals and sent the occasional person overseas, but most of the deals are when a company is close to the Mexican or Canadian border or mainly employs immigrants who want to combine treatment with a trip home to families in countries such as India.
Whilst corporate medical tourism evangelists continue to sing the same song, those who have arranged actual deals advise that only a small minority of companies will take up the offer, and while some employees will accept overseas treatment, other companies are finding nobody taking the option. Companion Global Healthcare has increased the number of companies contracted to provide medical travel benefits, but few employees are taking advantage of the benefit. WorldMedAssist is reported as seeing a similar trend.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. decided to shop nationally for the best deal in heart surgery for its employees. The USA’s second-largest home improvement retailer reached a three-year agreement with the Cleveland Clinic. The move could spur others to shop far and wide for medical treatment. This is the first time a multistate national company has chosen one specialist hospital and made it available to employees.
Lowe’s is offering incentives to employees in the form of reduced out-of-pocket costs to go to Cleveland for heart procedures. Lowe’s chose Cleveland Clinic from five hospitals nationwide in an effort to improve the quality of medical care for its workers and to lower costs, with a package price for doctor and hospital services. Based on past claims, Lowe’s estimates that some 125 patients a year could take advantage of the programme. Patients must be approved for surgery in advance. The arrangement is attractive enough that Lowe’s will pay travel and lodging expenses for patients and a companion, and waive a $500 deductible and other out-of-pocket costs.
Last year the hospital performed a record 4,128 heart surgeries and 44% of heart and chest surgeries patients were from outside Ohio. Michael McMillan of Cleveland Clinic comments, “The thing we will want to demonstrate together is that by an employee traveling to a place with better outcomes, fewer re-operations and lower complication rates, over time it will lead to lower costs.”
Over the last two years there have been hundreds of articles looking at the potential of insurer paid employer arranged medical tourism for US businesses. Most have used the case of Hannaford Brothers to illustrate the potential for overseas hospitals. Hannaford has indeed encouraged medical tourism, but not outside the US. Three years ago, the Hannaford Brothers grocery chain became one of the first employers in the USA to encourage workers insured under the company health insurances to go abroad for medical care. Their insurer is Aetna, who used this as a pilot exercise. Aetna is now rather dismissive of the potential of insurance paid overseas medical tourism, and has no plans for more pilots or to offer it to any of their millions of insured. The original offer was that employees who flew to Singapore to have joint replacements did not have to pay any out-of-pocket expenses. Plus the company would cover travel costs for both the employee and a companion. Aetna agreed that if hospitals locally wanted to be able to match the quality that could be provided at the Singapore facility, and the cost-effective care that could be rendered there, that they also should be eligible to participate. St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston agreed a package rate comparable to what Hannaford would have to pay in Singapore, when major travel expenses are factored into the equation. So far, 10 people covered by Hannaford have taken the grocery chain up on its offer. A hospital in the Boston area is also participating. Nobody has gone to Singapore. St. Mary’s is in talks with other major employers who are interested in making an arrangement similar to the one it has with Hannaford.
The conclusion is that US domestic corporate medical travel is expanding quickly, but the reality of sending employees overseas remains a stagnant backwater in the flow of medical tourism.
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