National Health Service
A continual debate in the US is on whether the current model of private healthcare, with partial governmental reimbursement is the best system as compared to the government administered healthcare systems of Europe.
While the European system provides every citizen with coverage, often there are long wait times for certain surgeries - 8 months on average for non-emergency surgeries.
In the American system, although wait times are drastically lower, costs are so high that in most cases, the uninsured (40 Million of them) are restricted access to the healthcare system.
The subject of this post, however, is not about comparing the relative merits of these two systems.
I was talking to my uncle yesterday about "Health Tourism" in India, where Americans and Europeans come to India to take advantage of the decent healthcare infrastructure and the lower costs.
He said that there were hardly any British who came to India, largely because the National Health Service (NHS) would not cover the cost of treatment.
I believe that the best thing for Indian hospitals to do would be to approach the NHS and get themselves approved as an NHS-off shore center. British citizens would have the option of a 8 month wait or a free holiday in India ! And, even with the cost of travel thrown in, the costs for the NHS would be dramatically lower.
Wonder if this is feasible ? One issue would be the quality of care, confusion on what drugs can be administered (because some drugs approved by India are not approved by the UK and vice versa) and also the reaction of the British doctors who already resent the large number of Indian doctors in the UK.
While the European system provides every citizen with coverage, often there are long wait times for certain surgeries - 8 months on average for non-emergency surgeries.
In the American system, although wait times are drastically lower, costs are so high that in most cases, the uninsured (40 Million of them) are restricted access to the healthcare system.
The subject of this post, however, is not about comparing the relative merits of these two systems.
I was talking to my uncle yesterday about "Health Tourism" in India, where Americans and Europeans come to India to take advantage of the decent healthcare infrastructure and the lower costs.
He said that there were hardly any British who came to India, largely because the National Health Service (NHS) would not cover the cost of treatment.
I believe that the best thing for Indian hospitals to do would be to approach the NHS and get themselves approved as an NHS-off shore center. British citizens would have the option of a 8 month wait or a free holiday in India ! And, even with the cost of travel thrown in, the costs for the NHS would be dramatically lower.
Wonder if this is feasible ? One issue would be the quality of care, confusion on what drugs can be administered (because some drugs approved by India are not approved by the UK and vice versa) and also the reaction of the British doctors who already resent the large number of Indian doctors in the UK.
Comments
I know IT consultants from Uk & US who have utilised their work related visits to India with dental treatment, laser treatment for eyes etc... off course they are happy with the cost and special treatment provided to them