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Released: August 11, 2010

Travel surgeries: One way to cut health care costs

Source: Parija Kavilanz, CNNMoney

Tina Follett and her husband Patrick are in Panama on a two-week all-expenses paid trip. But Tina isn’t on vacation. She’s there to get surgery.

The Folletts are among a growing number of Americans whose company health plans now include a medical travel option. Tina Follett, 50, just underwent a complete hysterectomy at the Punta Pacifica hospital in Panama City.

“It’s been a phenomenal experience, almost like a hotel, and it has cost us absolutely nothing,” she said. Patrick Follett, a manager with Calif.-based Bear Mountain Resort, said his company introduced medical travel about two year ago.

The same surgery done in the U.S. could have cost the company about $50,000, with $10,000 out of pocket for the Folletts. In Panama, that procedure cost half of that.

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