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Members of the House of Delegates are backing a bill that would pay for state employees to have medical procedures in hospitals outside the United States. Delegate Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier, has written a bill to promote what's now being called "medical tourism" among workers covered by the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
The practice of patients traveling to sometimes-distant foreign countries for cheaper surgeries and other kinds of health care is becoming more of a trend in places like Britain and China, but it's starting to catch on in the United States, Canterbury said. His plan, co-sponsored by Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, and Delegate Jeff Eldridge, D-Lincoln, would cover all medical costs and travel expenses for the patient and a companion if an overseas procedure costs significantly less than the same treatment in the United States.
Canterbury said Thursday that a major surgery performed in India or Thailand costs 80 percent to 90 percent less than the same procedure in a U.S. hospital. He expects his plan would save the state money and would encourage more competition between West Virginia medical facilities. He said state workers would get the most benefits and PEIA would see the biggest cost savings when a person needs a procedure that would cost $12,000 or more if performed here.
"There's going to be an economic threshold for this when it becomes feasible," Canterbury said. "But when it does, it's going to have a dampening effect on inflation here. The quality is there (abroad), the costs savings are there and it's something that's not new." Canterbury said he first began researching the potential for cheaper care abroad after seeing a report on the subject last year on CBS' "60 minutes.
"I have talked to a lot of people in my district who have PEIA and they're interested in the possibilities," Canterbury said. "But moreover, they're just glad someone is thinking about them and what they're paying right now."
PEIA premium rates are increasing about 22 percent for state workers this year. Workers who opt for an overseas medical excursion would have their PEIA co-pays and deductibles waived, they would get free airfare for two along with lodging and expenses for up to a week after their medical procedure and PEIA would reimburse their employing state agency for the sick leave they use.
If the savings still were significant for the state, the employee also could get a rebate of 20 percent what the state saved through the overseas procedure.
Canterbury said PEIA receives more than 1,300 claims each year for medical procedures that cost more than $12,000. The total cost to the state for those procedures is $40 million each year, he said. "If you look at it that way, the average cost is $30,000," Canterbury said. "Even if this only works for one or two percent of the claims, there's going to be significant savings somewhere." |
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