Medical Tourism is New Trend in Israel

by INR Staff ,  Arutz Sheva 7 | 2012-10-12

Now you can tour Israel and at the same time get a knee replacement. Sounds unusual? Well, according to Eli Knoller of IsraMedica, tens of thousands of Americans have been flying overseas for medical treatments in a new trend referred to as medical tourism.

"A patient with a pre-planned medical treatment need can have the procedure done abroad," Knoller stated. "There are excellent medical facilities in the United States as everyone knows, but tens of thousands of Americans choose to have medical treatment overseas because the savings are very significant."

Knoller quoted statistics indicating a high rate of Americans without health insurance, meaning that any type of medical procedure would be an out-of-pocket cost.

Knoller said that another reason for medical tourism is "patients and their spouses can easily combined the medical needs with a trip to a foreign country and then enjoy rest and relaxation following the procedure."