WEALTH

FOCUS
tourism exists, but has not been developed fully. He points
out that in the late 1990s, 9% of Bumrungrad revenues
came from overseas: this is now at 56%. “Medical tourism is
real, so the opportunity is there,” he says. And while he
admits that national figures are possibly inflated, he
asserts that, “until 2010, when I left the hospital, our
international numbers were counted as either one
outpatient visit or one admission.”
NOT TO BE DETERRED
Malaysia, India and South Korea have long since followed
Thailand’s lead, while Cambodia is billing itself as the lowcost,
high-quality dental care destination. According to the
World Health Organization, there are 50 countries
throughout the world involved in medical tourism, with
India, Singapore and Thailand in the lead and comprising
90% of the fragmented Asian medical tourism market.
Steve Conway, the Singapore-based regional general
manager with Allianz Worldwide Care, a provider of
international health insurance, says that insurance
companies could drive this. “Insurance premiums
currently increase from 6–15% per year. Opportunities
in medical tourism are one way for insurers to keep costs
at bay.”
One tale he cites to illustrate this is of a Shanghai client
who needed anterior cruciate ligament treatment. The
local hospital wanted $58,000, but the reasonable cost at
location assessed it at $40,000, which left the client facing
out-of-pocket costs of $18,000. Alternatively, a Bangkok
center offered two business-class tickets, surgery and
ten days’ accommodation all for $18,000, which the
insurance company would completely cover. “You can
imagine which way he went,” says Conway. “It was a winwin
for all involved.”
Conway notes that many of the medical tourists in
Southeast Asia come from developing countries within the
Asian region, where economies have created wealth but
high-quality health infrastructure is lagging. Indonesians
are said to spend $11.5 billion a year on healthcare abroad,
much of it in Malaysia, which adheres to halal restrictions
such as avoiding pork derivatives in medicine. Meanwhile,
the Laos, Cambodians and Vietnamese prefer Thailand,
while the Chinese go to Singapore or Thailand for care that
is not readily available at home.
Cultural similarity is an important consideration, says
Conway, but the big headline is a flight to quality, as people
seek access to medication, care and cutting-edge
technology. “While tourists from the West may be after
cosmetic surgery,” he comments, “for patients from China,
medical tourism can be a high-quality solution – and this
is unlikely to change any time soon.”
TURKISH TRANSFERS
Far west of Thailand, Turkey is seen as an up-andcoming
country for medical tourism. The Health
Ministry is hoping to increase visitor numbers to
2 million by 2023. Many of the patients come from
lraq and Libya, but expatriates returning from
Germany also make a sizeable section of the
business.
Allianz Turkey is seeking to improve cross-country
medical insurance. “Many Turkish guest workers in
Germany spend their holidays back home. Merging
our contracts with those of Allianz Germany could
reduce the cost both for them and us when tourists
seek treatment in Turkey,” says Oktay Atay, head of
health claims, health provision and provider network
management with Allianz Turkey.
MEDICAL INSURANCE WHILE IN THAILAND
Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) is seeking regulatory
approval to insure non-Thai patients against
unexpected complications such as hematoma, and
internal and external infections while being treated
in Thailand. Estimating 900,000 medical tourists
annually, AGA Thailand CEO Steve Watkins hopes to
win close to 500,000 of them as clients over the
mid- to long-term.
Allianz • 25