You may believe those who travel abroad are either going for business or pleasure, however there is another type of traveller. Nearly 30,000 British people a year pack their bags and travel abroad to have cosmetic surgery, dental work or other medical procedures. Going private was the only option for many who want cosmetic surgery, or want the procedure quicker than the NHS can provide, or require dental work when they have no NHS dentist. Private treatment can cost a fortune so now many look further a field for treatment.Compared to private treatment prices, treatments abroad can cost a fraction of the price, for example a knee replacement in Britain might cost £14,000 compared with about £6,000 in Poland, while a spinal fusion operation to ease acute back pain might cost £18,000 in Britain compared with £5,500 in India, including travel and accommodation. There are similar price differences for cosmetic surgery and dentistry.

Before travelling abroad for treatment a huge amount of research should be carried out. There are nearly 200 companies or individuals who recommend countries and surgeons, however many have no medical qualifications and don’t operate under any regulations.

Many who receive treatment abroad are completely satisfied, feeling they received the best care and treatment. Rarely patients can experience problems meaning they are more than likely to be liable for the additional costs, as most insurers have no specific travel insurance to cover those going under the knife. If this is the case, the procedure may have been cheaper by going private in the UK, rather than travelling abroad.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Travel Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.