HANNAFORD
Hannaford, a Portland, Maine grocery chain owned by Belgium’s Delhaize Group, added an option in 2008 for the 9,000 employees it covers under an Aetna plan to have hip and knee replacements in Singapore General Hospital.
Singapore was chosen as it is one of the safest cities in the world. Hannaford is also considering other possible destinations, including India and Malaysia. The programme involves the company paying Business-Class airfare and lodging for the patient and a companion. If an employee wants to go to Singapore, they will pay for everything and waive all co-pays, all deductibles and all out-of-pocket expenses. Under IRS guidelines, up to US$10,000 of travel-related medical expenses are tax-free to the patient.
So far, six employees have considered Singapore. Peter Hayes, director of associate health and wellness, said US hospitals should take Hannaford’s move as a wake-up call: “We are trying to say that in a global market going forward, they really need to think how they can deliver services that are competitive. We are spending far more and getting far less. That has to change.’’
IndUShealth
Rajesh Rao, founder of IndUShealth, has appeared as an expert witness before the US Senate Subcommittee on Aging, extolling the advantages of employer-assisted medical travel, so his comments are interesting. “US businesses have begun the process of embracing this phenomenon. In our target market, consisting of employers across the US with self-funded health benefit plans, we have found companies highly motivated to introduce these plans to their plan subscribers. They are mostly doing so by incorporating our plans as an available option with incentives that encourage plan participants to consider it.
“Incentives typically include some combination of co-pay waiver and sharing cost savings with the participant. The level of incentive is carefully considered by each employer based on his or her workforce demographics to ensure that it is not considered coercive. A not immediately obvious benefit is that they are able to obtain much needed leverage to put competitive pressure on their existing providers to help curtail their expenditures and to keep their annual cost increases as low as possible. Thus, adopting our plan helps them save money even for those subscribers who opt to obtain treatment locally.”
Hi-Co
IndUSHealth customer Hi-Co has a group health plan that recently added the option of going to Wockhardt Hospitals in India for treatment.
The first employee, who went abroad for a knee replacement, was very happy with his treatment and the whole experience. For a material handler, the option of no out-of-pocket expenses and a cheque – compared with a US$2,000 bill for having treatment at home – was very attractive.
The company plans gives employees 20 percent of the savings up to US$10,000.
CGH
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has a subsidiary Companion Global Healthcare or CGH that provides its members help with arranging travel and care in foreign locations. It has a network of hospitals in several countries, where health plan members can go. Vice-president David Boucher says: “I am quite confident that the process of Americans going to overseas hospitals will become popular with US-based businesses. All 12,000-plus employees of parent BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina have access to the services provided by CGH.
CGH has agreements with three significant sized self-insured employers (one has over 5,000 members) who have modified their benefit plans to implement financial drivers designed to at least cause their employees to consider the benefits of medical travel.
DOCTORS CARE
South Carolina company Doctors Care contracted with Companion Global Healthcare in January to allow its employees, who are covered under a BlueCross plan, the option of travelling abroad for five procedures. Doctors Care is a healthcare company that offers minor emergency services at 40 locations.
”We waive the deductible and will consider travel expenses on a case-by-case basis,” said Dr Michael Stout, CEO of UCI Medical Affiliates, which is the parent company of Doctors Care.
So far, no employees have chosen to travel for treatment.
