efore even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor waIt is a known fact that some of the western countries have the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Many people living in these countries do not have sufficient health insurance that can cover major medical bills.

If you have a certain medical condition and you don’t need to be treated promptly, you can take advantage of what is known as medical tourism. Medical tourism is the process of traveling to another country for medical treatment. Medical tourists are usually from developed countries such as Canada, USA or Australia. The countries these tourists go to are India, Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa.

Although most of the patients travel due to expensive healthcare systems back home, some patients travel due to other reasons such as combining a vacation with medical procedures, avoiding long waiting lines at home or on rare occasions, treatment is not available back home.

Why is that the medical expenses abroad are just a fraction of the expenses in a western country such as the US? The most obvious reason is that currency exchange rates play a big role in the overall picture. 1 US$ is almost equal to 45 Indian rupees. So, an American medical tourist automatically gets a currency exchange advantage before even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor wanyou can take advantage of what is known as medical tourism. Medical tourism is the process of traveling to another country for medical treatment. Medical tourists are usually from developed countries such as Canada, USA or Australia. The countries these tourists go to are India, Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa.

Although most of the patients travel due to expensive healthcare systems back home, some patients travel due to other reasons such as combining a vacation with medical procedures, avoiding long waiting lines at home or on rare occasions, treatment is not available back home.

Why is that the medical expenses abroad are just a fraction of the expenses in a western country such as the US? The most obvious reason is that currency exchange rates play a big role in the overall picture. 1 US$ is almost equal to 45 Indian rupees. So, an American medical tourist automatically gets a currency exchange advantage before even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor waica.

Although most of the patients travel due to expensive healthcare systems back home, some patients travel due to other reasons such as combining a vacation with medical procedures, avoiding long waiting lines at home or on rare occasions, treatment is not available back home.

Why is that the medical expenses abroad are just a fraction of the expenses in a western country such as the US? The most obvious reason is that currency exchange rates play a big role in the overall picture. 1 US$ is almost equal to 45 Indian rupees. So, an American medical tourist automatically gets a currency exchange advantage before even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor wa medical expenses abroad are just a fraction of the expenses in a western country such as the US? The most obvious reason is that currency exchange rates play a big role in the overall picture. 1 US$ is almost equal to 45 Indian rupees. So, an American medical tourist automatically gets a currency exchange advantage before even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor waefore even reaching India. The second reason is that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the US health insurance system. A patient has to go through a mountain of paperwork just to see a doctor. The doctor also has employed many people just to verify a patient’s insurance information. This is mainly because the doctor wants to make sure that the patient’s claim does not get rejected from the appropriate insurance company. Also, due to the frequency of the lawsuits in the US, doctors usually pay a substantial amount of money to be insured for medical malpractice. That is why, medical expenses are higher in the US than in India.

Personally, I feel that there is nothing wrong in considering another country for a medical procedure. Most of the hospitals overseas have state-of-the-art equipment. However, it is always good to check the background of the doctors and the hospitals of the country you will be traveling to.

Copyright 2006 Divyesh Dave