BlueCross BlueShield Of South Carolina Launches Subsidiary To Facilitate Medical Tourism

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 29 May 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina recently launched a subsidiary, Companion Global Healthcare, to help U.S. patients plan trips to Thailand for lower-cost medical procedures, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. BCBS will cover patients' procedures organized through Companion Global if their BCBS plan allows the travel, according to spokesperson Elizabeth Hammond. Hammond said the insurer also will cover two follow-up visits with physicians at Doctors Care centers in the state.

While the subsidiary was created several months ago, no South Carolina resident has outsourced any procedures yet, the Post and Courier notes. The company is "one of the first efforts of its kind" in the nation and "reflects several trends," such as an increase in medical tourism, increasing health care costs and rising health standards in Asian countries, according to the Post and Courier.

However, "some question whether American patients really want to travel halfway around the world for a hospital visit," and some critics contend Companion Global is "a ploy by insurers to squeeze domestic health care providers already suffering from hefty malpractice premiums and tight Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements," the Post and Courier reports. David Boucher, assistant vice president of health care services at BCBS, denied the charge, adding that the company is responding to health care trends. Patti Smoake, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Hospital Association, said the program is an indication of the nation's frustration with the health care system but that medical tourism is "not the answer to the problem of rising health care costs" (Bartelme, Charleston Post and Courier, 5/22).

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