Jordan eyes lucrative US health care market

The largely desert kingdom already established in the Middle East as a top health care destination is stepping up efforts to tap into the multibillion dollar medical tourism market with a campaign to lure U.S. citizens weary of soaring health care costs.

"Come here, do your surgery. Afterward, have a vacation, visit Petra, swim in the Dead Sea," Dr. Fawzi al-Hammouri, the head of Jordan's Private Hospitals Association, said, listing the country's most popular tourism destinations. The hospitals are offering package deals, including air travel.

"All this, inclusive, is less than 25 percent of what you have to pay in the U.S.," he said.

The push, which includes a Web campaign and a visit by a group of U.S. health care specialists and insurers starting Tuesday, is a key part of the country's strategy to develop new services and industries. Unlike many of its neighbors, Jordan lacks oil wealth and relies on tourism, worker remittances, foreign investments and aid for its revenue.

Jordanian officials hope the medical tourism industry will provide some sorely needed cash.

With health costs climbing 8 percent each year in the U.S., experts say medical tourism has been drawing more Americans looking for anything from cardiac care to plastic surgery. Europeans and Canadians are also traveling abroad for care, tired of the yearlong waiting lists under their comprehensive national health care systems.

About 600,000 Americans roughly 25 percent of medical tourists will travel abroad for surgery this year, according to Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions in Washington, D.C. It is an industry that will gross about $4 billion in 2009, he projected. Other experts estimate it could bring in ten times that level this year.

More than a vacation with a perk for patients, such trips offer insurers a chance to cut costs, and many are jumping on board.

Blue Cross-and Blue Shield of South Carolina, for example, signed alliances last year with about a dozen hospitals worldwide to widen the coverage options for their policyholders.

Jonathan Edelheit, of the Miami based Medical Tourism Association, said that U.S. insurers can waive all deductibles and copays, offer to cover travel costs for the patient and family members, even throw in a cash incentive, and still save tens of thousands of dollars.

Jordan already draws in Arabs from around the Middle East, as much for its medical care as its temperate climate.

The World Bank ranked Jordan number one in the region as a medical tourism destination, followed closely by Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. It said the kingdom ranked fifth in the world in terms of medical tourism destinations.

The country's medical tourism revenues in 2007 exceeded $1 billion, while more than 250,000 patients from 84 countries were treated here last year, according to a recent Private Hospitals Association study. The majority was medical tourists; others were vacationers who were ill or injured during their stay.

But it could face a tough battle against more established foreign locales such as India, Costa Rica and Thailand that dominate the sector. Keckley said the Caribbean Islands are still the biggest draw for U.S. medical tourists because of their proximity.

Working in its favor, however, are Jordan's English-speaking doctors, who are trained or affiliated with top U.S. institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Johns-Hopkins.

This "will resonate very well with the American market," said Alex Piper, president of the Troy, Michigan-based One World Global Healthcare Solutions, a medical tourism consulting firm.

Piper said his network of more than 140 million U.S. and Canadian employers and major insurers would soon be linked with Jordanian hospitals.

The Medical Tourism Association is bringing U.S. health care specialists and insurance providers to Amman this week to showcase the city's six internationally accredited hospitals. The group includes Irvine, California-based insurer Best Life and Texas Benefit, headquartered in San Antonio.

The marketing campaign is also being featured on Web, in industry publications and at conferences, including a planned international medical tourism congress next year.

For many Americans, the promise of cheaper medical care without compromising standards is a big draw, especially at a time when health care costs are climbing and the global meltdown is forcing many to tighten their purse strings.

While patients treated here, like in other countries, would likely have little recourse in U.S. or local courts for botched procedures, the Health Care Accreditation Council in Amman and the Joint Commission accredits six of Jordan’s hospitals International, an American nonprofit that accredits hospitals in the U.S. and abroad and helps ensure international standards are met and adhered to.

Fran Boyle, an independent realtor in Washington, D.C., has visited Jordan several times mainly for vacation. But said her next trip could include replacement of some half-dozen dental crowns. The procedure would cost a total of $1,000 in Jordan compared to seven times that at home.

"Even with the price of a trip, it would be worth it," said Boyle.