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MEDICAL TOURISM

ABSTRACT A growing number of people are discovering the benefits of medical tourism. In the U.S.A and throughout the western world, it is becoming common knowledge that medical tourism offers a cheaper option for receiving medical treatment without compromising on quality1. The costs of medical treatment and state-of-the-art technology are the most important factors for Americans in making a decision to travel abroad for treatment2. The cost-conscious factor and availability of accredited facilities have led to the emergence of several global medical tourism corridors3. Asia leads the medical tourism industry worth billions4. Amongst these corridors of health, India has the second largest number of accredited facilities3.
INTRODUCTION:
The health care industry within the United States continues to face unprecedented increases in costs, along with the task of providing care to an estimated 33 million uninsured or underinsured Americans, which constitutes about 10.4% of the U.S. population7. The demand for low-cost health care services is driving patients to seek treatment on a globally competitive basis, while balancing important quality of care issues. The trend, known as medical tourism, which refers to traveling to another country for medical care, is on rise8. In the past few years, Asia has taken the lead as one of the most preferred destination for medical value travel9. Forbes reported that medical tourism is growing by 20% per year. The latest estimates put it as a $50 to 65 billion industry with upward of 1.25 million Americans seeking treatment in other countries each year3, for cut-price healthcare. They are doing this in a bid to avoid the astronomical cost of undergoing treatment at home.
U.S. HEALTH CARE STATISTICS:

In 2013, Nerd Wallet Health analyzed data from the U.S. Census, Centers for Disease control, the federal

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