Insurance

It seems like a no-brainer: patients in consumer directed health plans --which combine a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) with a high-deductible PPO-- should be early adopters of medical tourism. And sure enough, a lot of people are saying that's the case. AIS's Health Business Daily picks up on the theme today with a reprint from Inside Consumer-Directed Care, inanely headlined as follows:

David Williams: This is David Williams, CEO of MedTripInfo.com. Jonathan Edelheit is an executive at a company that sells limited benefit health plans, which are sometimes called Mini Meds. These plans cover day-to-day expenses but they don't cover major surgery. Jonathan's involvement in medical tourism began as a way to add affordable major medical coverage to Mini Med Plans. But now, he's going a step beyond, by founding the Medical Tourism Association.

David Williams: This is David Williams, CEO of MetripInfo.com. I spoke earlier today with Ken Erickson, CEO of GlobalChoice Healthcare. GlobalChoice isn't a medical tourism agency. It bills itself as a procedure management firm, offering employers a supplemental benefit that extends their provider network to additional US and international locations.

Ken and I spoke about his providers and customers, continuity of care, accreditation, credentialing and malpractice, among other topics.