Medical tourism: destination health

The prices of medical treatments are often way too high for people to be able to afford having necessary treatment done. Companies like MedRetreat now offer medical treatments for people with low incomes. Some of those people really cannot afford to pay for any kind of dental insurance and necessary medical treatment is often postponed till people need urgent help, for which they cannot pay.

As the wages of doctors and nurses and the costs of running a professional hospital are lower in countries such as India many people are now deciding to save up for a trip to this country (or they take out a loan) so that they can still receive the treatment that they so badly need. On average most people can save thousands of dollars this way, even after paying for travel expenses.

Companies such as MedRetreat offer valuable and unbiased advice about hospitals, clinics and physicians and help people who need treatments during every step of the process towards traveling abroad for treatment. The treatment itself as well as travel arrangements and often securing some kind of financing for the procedure is researched and often offered as a package deal for clients from the US. People can apply for information and can of course get in touch with these companies if they know what kind of treatment they need and want, but it is often also possible to have a checkup done by one of the companies' doctors before you decide to travel for treatment.

There are five major companies that offer this service and they send people to countries such as India, China and El Salvador where clients can visit well-equipped hospitals that have been tried and tested. The treatments in these countries are not better or worse than in the USA, but they are a lot cheaper and make traveling and hotel expenses worth your while.