Markets in Everything: Medical Tourism is Starting to Take Off in Las Vegas, Nevada
Can Las Vegas, a city of excess, become a health destination?
"Medical tourism has been on Southern Nevada’s radar for more than a
decade, but only recently have the medical community and the tourism
industry coordinated efforts well enough to begin turning the concept
into reality and make medical tourism into a bona fide piece of Gov.
Brian Sandoval's economic diversification package.
By most accounts, Las Vegas can’t truly consider itself a hub for
medical tourism just yet, but progress made in the last year indicates
it’s on its way."
11 Comments:
I thought Las Vegas was in the gambling business not the healthcare business. I guess I was wrong.
I recently saw Dr Sunjay Gupta Live at the Sunset Strip! - he killed!
"I thought Las Vegas was in the gambling business not the healthcare business"...
Well james think of it as gambling on one's health...
One medical tourist destination might be good for one's health and maybe another might not be...
Now that's real gambling...:-)
Try Thailand for health care.
Some of this I assume would be driven by the low cost of real estate?
aren't we essentially talking about elective procedures...rather than things like trying to diagnose or treat cancer?
Most of the discussions about Medical tourism or traveling to other countries is not really about serious, life-threatening medicine.
If your kidney's are failing or you think you have a cancerous growth in your colon.. I just don't think you're going to hop a plane to India or even Vegas...
If you want botox or a set of teeth implants or maybe even Lasik... yes... but if you need some serious diagnosis and treatment work for a funky heart valve or a lung tumor ...most folks are not headed for Vegas.
Why would Las Vegas get out of US laws like Obamacare?
Overseas medical tourism is where it is at.
"aren't we essentially talking about elective procedures...rather than things like trying to diagnose or treat cancer?"
No, Larry, the cost of elective procedures is not a problem, as most are not covered by healthcare plans or insurance. Prices are competitive, and keep getting cheaper over time. Unlike covered procedures, the prices of elective procedures are controlled by market forces.
Unlike a covered procedure, if you were interested in a botox treatment, you would ask how much it cost. If you didn't like the price, you could shop elsewhere, or even decide it wasn't worth it to you. that makes all the difference. You are spending your own money, not someone else's.
essentially what you are saying is that if you are not covered by insurance and spending your own money - going outside the US is cheaper.
so "elective" is not quite the right word.
but I still doubt that you'd go abroad for life threatening issues, chronic issues, long-term treatments, etc.
I think you'd go for well-defined, already-diagnosed things that are not directly life-threatening/urgent/long term/etc.
and I just don't see the geography issue changing...a whole lot until we can beam Scotty up.
It's not a serious answer to most of the real health care challenges that we have.
"essentially what you are saying is that if you are not covered by insurance and spending your own money - going outside the US is cheaper."
No, Larry, I'm not saying anything not written in my comment. There is nothing to read between the lines.
Do folks with insurance go overseas?
or is it primarily those who don't have it?
I guess that was my supposition.
perhaps if US insurance companies covered overseas procedures, it would spur the industry or perhaps that is already the case.
If a procedure was very expensive, would a US insurance company specify that it would be covered in cheaper countries but not expensive ones?
I learned something about Medicare Advantage the other day and that is when you buy the private sector Advantage insurance, it may well not cover anything other than the region you live.
so if you go overseas and get sick - you have no coverage at all.
that tells me that insurance companies do not cover all hospitals and providers - especially overseas.
so.. it's likely cash on the barrelhead for most, right?
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