Health Savings Account Blog

Most of the information for this article was sourced from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/21/60minutes/main689998_page4.shtml.

Bumumgrad hospital in Thailand is now taking in more than 350,000 internationl patients each year. Most of the doctors are internationally trained, the rooms are luxurious and feel more like a 5-star hotel than a hospital, and best of all - the prices are about 85% lower than in the United States.

India, which hopes to become the world leader in medical tourism, has even lower prices, and English speaking physicians, many of whom have returned to India after practicing in the U.S. or Europe. Patients in the article raved about the personal attention, and the luxurious care they receive.

We'll never see prices that low in the U.S., but nevertheless this is a great example of what competition can cause - better services at lower prices. As HSAs become more and more popular, and people are spending some of their own money on their medical expenses, doctors and hospitals will try to compete for our business, and the result should be higher quality medical care at a lower price. Until then, you may want to consider using your pre-tax HSA dollars to help pay for your next international trip...