04/07/2012
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) this morning, which means U.S. healthcare reform is here to stay.
Health insurance providers and employers put their medical tourism plans on hold once the law was enacted in 2010. They’ve been waiting for a final decision on PPACA before moving forward with alternative healthcare options. Over the past six months, insurers and employers began getting more comfortable with the PPACA, and now that it’s been officially validated, the medical tourism industry will become an attractive option for employers and insurers looking for innovative ways to lower their healthcare costs.
“This should have a very positive impact on employers and insurers moving forward with implementing medical tourism, now that they understand that healthcare reform law has been approved by the Supreme Court...the burden is now on insurers and employers, since the law does not address the issue of increased costs,” said Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association™ and editor-in-chief of Healthcare Reform Magazine. “This will present a great opportunity for international attendees at the World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress (WMT&GHC), held Oct. 24-26th in South Florida, to learn about healthcare reform and network with over 1,000 U.S. attendees from top U.S. insurance companies and employers.
Healthcare reform is positive for the medical tourism industry, as it will drive employers and uninsured U.S. citizens to seek healthcare abroad to avoid both the rising domestic costs of healthcare and the already-problematic supply and demand issues present in the U.S. healthcare system. This change is positive for both international and domestic medical tourism. Healthcare reform should have no effect on inbound medical tourism to the U.S., an industry that will continue to grow.
Mr. Edelheit will be hosting a Webinar on Monday, July 2, at 10 a.m. EDT (7 a.m. PDT, 3 p.m. BST, 4 p.m. EET, 7:30 p.m. IST and 10 p.m. HKT). The webinar, which can be found at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/501013250 will focus on healthcare reform’s effects on medical tourism, including but not limited to:
Guaranteed issue of insurance with no preexisting clause
The individual mandate
Narrowing of the rate correlation and how it will increase costs for young adults
Penalties for refusing to purchase health insurance
Major changes that will take effect in 2014, and why employers and insurers need to start planning for them now
It’s difficult to understand entirely how everyone, namely insurers and employers, will be affected by PPACA. The WMT&GHC will host several educational sessions led by industry experts providing their best practices and future strategies to deal with PPACA’s effects and still provide quality healthcare for their clients and employees. This conference will provide the opportunity to become an expert in the reformed strategies to manage healthcare for your clients and employees. The event is integrated with the Employer Healthcare & Benefits Congress, providing the opportunity for international attendees of the WMT&GHC to network with about 1,000 U.S. employers and insurance companies to devise future collaborations as a way to offset costs (in the U.S.) and increase healthcare revenues (globally).
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