Medical Tourism Sounded Frivolous. Until I Tried It

In 2015 a CNN documentary in the “Inside Man” series followed host Morgan Spurlock to Bangkok, Thailand for a medical tourist visit. The highlight was receiving an extremely comprehensive physical checkup that most Americans never receive.

Seeing a doctor might not exactly seem like a vacation.

But if you like saving money, Spurlock made his point by spending $4300, including airfare and hotel, on medical services that would have cost about $14000 in the US.

Benefits Of Medical Tourism

Even paying full fare, seeing a doctor abroad is staggeringly affordable (by American standards). You might even receive medical services inaccessible at home, not even offered on a standard menu because of cost.

Knowing your options also means that when you're traveling outside the US, you have faith knowing that healthcare services shouldn't throw you in a financial tailspin.

Conversely if you're traveling in the US, find travel insurance to cover medical emergencies.

Comparing Typical Consultation Fees

In Taiwan where I am currently, the uninsured full consultation fee to see a doctor often ranges from 350 TWD to 500 TWD. That's a consultation that ranges from $10 USD to $16 USD.  

What is that, 2-3 Starbucks lattes??

Emergency Room Visit

In a recent visit to Bangkok, we also ended up visiting the Bumrungrad International Hospital Morgan Spurlock featured. My husband was admittedly mainly run down from travel but had flu like symptoms.

A visit to the emergency room outpatient care + prescribed medication ran up a bill of 4099 BHT..in other words $131 USD.

Compare that to the average cost of an emergency room visit in the US: $1917. And that's a statistic I found from 2016.

Literally more than monthly rent.

Affordability Of Preventative Care

When seeing a gynecologist for a routine annual checkup in Seoul, South Korea, I was a bit surprised that the doctor suggested an ultrasound.

An ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging tool that creates a visual of internal body structure. It's commonly used in pregnancy to check on the baby and measure its size.

In the US, the Healthcare Bluebook estimates the average fair cost of an ultrasound to be $263. Insurance will generally cover the ultrasound if it's considered medically necessary. As purely preventative care, I have hardly seen it used, for example on routine gynecology exams.

Did I really need it?

My doctor had seen many foreign patients and was used to the pushback. It could be optional, she explained, but was fairly common in Korea for standard checkups.

It would be a way to take stock of my reproductive health with diagnostic imaging that has an excellent safety record, at a reasonable cost.

My entire bill at a private clinic for the consult, a pap smear, and ultrasound?

Consult: $14, Pap smear: $40, Ultrasound: $49. Total damage in USD: $103

For the super saver in me, getting medical care abroad just seems like a steal.

In Taiwan, here's another look at the cost of an ultrasound at a premier public hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital:

We'll lump registration and diagnosis together, since that's basically the administrative and consultation fee ($19), and in this case the lab test was the ultrasound ($30 USD), for a total bill of $49.

By the way, if I had local residency, which foreigners can also get through a work visa, insurance would have kicked in and likely paid for the whole thing.

Persistence Of Affordable Care

My mother lives in Taiwan and hates medical checkups. There's some unresolved angst from watching my Dad suffer through chemotherapy, but she also grew up poor at a time when preventative care didn't really exist.

Now that it does, it's still hard to get her to go, even as a persistent daughter.

Apparently what works is the governmental health agency that calls her repeatedly to remind her about checkups. It's not simply a postcard in the mail either, they actually leave repeated voicemails for her.

Thankfully she didn't grow up in an age where just ignoring voice messages was routine.

She complained to me that she'd have to go see the doctor to get the calling to stop. Mission accomplished!

How To Find A Medical Provider Abroad

While traveling and working abroad, I've found public health care systems (ie government run or subsidized) to be generally affordable and good quality. There's less of a sense of needing to shop around for typical care.

Of course, having a trusted recommendation would be best.

Hospital Search Tips

• Facebook support groups – There are growing groups related to specific conditions to tap into. Or location based expat groups are often helpful for recommendations.

• International certification providers -For example the Joint Commission accredits international hospital. Keep in mind that these accreditations are probably more suited towards private hospitals.
• University affiliated or teaching hospitals – Teaching hospitals often have a reputation for expertise in highly specialized care. Those affiliated with major universities (like NTU, Seoul National, Yonsei etc) typically have high standards for care.

Having lived in these Asian countries or used their healthcare systems, here is a shortlist of hospitals that seem to have a good reputation. Though not an exhaustive list, these also tend to be English speaking or foreign friendly.

If you are more cost conscious go for the public hospitals, though expect wait times to be longer.

Hong Kong

Public hospitals like Queen Mary (teaching hospital affiliated with University of HK)

Private: Mathilda International Hospital, Adventist, Canossa, Hong Kong Sanitorium

List of hospitals

Singapore

Public: Tan Tok Seng Hospital

Private: Raffles, Mount Elizabeth, (ranking here by yelp)

List of hospitals

South Korea

Seoul National University Hospital, Yonsei (Severance Hospital)

Asan Medical Center, International Clinic Yongsan-gu

Korea is known for its thriving beauty industry, as well as its thriving plastic surgery industry. The district Gangnam-gu (ala Gangnam style) has entire buildings filled to the brim with cosmetic surgeons.

Taiwan

Public: NTU Hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital (several branches), Tri-Service General Hospital 

Private: Taiwan Adventist Hospital

Yelp rankings
List of Taiwanese hospitals

Thailand

Bumrungrad International Hospital

Any hospitals or clinics you would add? Let us know in the comments!