What the Medical Tourism Industry Has in Store for 2015

The medical tourism industry has seen a huge upturn in fortunes over the past 5 years, and each year we see new emerging trends and medical tourism destinations. Predicting the future is always dangerous, especially when there are factors such as the Ebola virus, country invasions and global politics to consider. Despite all that the medical tourism industry has continued to flourish, and the year 2014 was a hugely significant one for the industry. So let’s check out what the medical tourism industry has in store for the year 2015.

The Growth of Medical Tourism

In terms of the growth of medical tourism, Russia and China are the countries that are expected to be the biggest contributors to the industry. The growth of medical tourism in both these countries is down to the political, travel plans and economy conditions of the country.

There are other countries such as Nigeria, who are looking to get into the industry and other African countries are expected to follow their lead. There are other medical tourism destinations like Kuwait and Dubai that are working extremely hard to start medical tourism in the country.

Medical Tourism in the USA

The number of Americans that are looking to get involved into the medical tourism industry is increasing rapidly. This is due to the fact that healthcare is getting increasingly expensive in the United States, which is why an increasing number of people are crossing the border in order to gain high quality medical care at affordable rates.

The number of US citizens that are seeking medical tourism is hard to gauge but estimates have suggested that it exceeds more than a million.

The Quality of Care

The quality of care in medical tourism is a huge topic of debate but it has gotten better in recent times. Countries today are expanding the quality of care that is afforded to medical tourists in order to promote medical tourism. There are still problems affecting the medical tourism industry but the standard and quality of care has become much better and is expected to get better still.

Legal Restrictions on Medical Tourism

Most countries that are promoting medical tourism have put certain laws into place that are going to restrict both the outbound as well as the inbound medical tourism industry. Israel, Canada and Nigeria are the ones that have passed such laws and more countries are expected to follow in the same vein.

Health Insurance and Medical Tourism

Insurance companies understand the impact of medical tourism and therefore are developing cross border insurance. However, that also depends upon the medical treatments that are available in the country where the medical tourist is going for treatment. Insurance companies are not too fond of sending their clients to foreign countries in order to save money, but they are sending people overseas in order to acquire the necessary treatment and care that they require.

There are lots of things that are going to affect the medical tourism industry this year, and it is expected to be another fascination year for the industry all around the world.