- Government to link Indian hospitals, wellness centres and Ayurveda clinics to foreign insurance firms to boost medical tourism in the country
- According to a report published by the Allied Market Research, the global medical tourism market accounted for $104.68 billion in 2019
THoD Newsdesk, India: The government authorities are planning to forge an operational group to calculate the tangents of linking Indian hospitals, wellness centres and Ayurveda clinics to foreign insurance firms to boost medical tourism in the country. Tourism Minister, Prahlad Patel, stated that the aim is to make sure that foreign citizens in need of medical help in India, can arrive in the country with their own insurance, which would be recognised by all health centres here.
In a statement to PTI, the minister mentioned, “We will form a working group to explore the possibilities to enrol foreign insurance firms with Indian health centres so that people can use these for treatment here. So, when they arrive, they have their insurance in place. This will be especially helpful for those arriving from Iraq or Southeast Asian countries.”
Authorities also stated that the ministry has suggested offering economic COVID-19 insurance covers to foreign tourists, in an effort to revive the tourism sector after the pandemic settles.
Patel added, “The working group will provide us with a model on which our system can be based. We are also in discussions with domestic insurance companies and departments concerned here.” Officials said the ministry is analysing insurance policies introduced by Singapore and other countries.
According to a report published by the Allied Market Research, the global medical tourism market accounted for $104.68 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $273.72 billion by 2027, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.8 per cent from 2020 to 2027. This sector is evolving rapidly, as per officials but limited medical coverage, ambiguous reimbursement by payers and visa approval issues have been curbing its wings.
“We have said that we should also have an authentic list of all our wellness centres and Ayush Hospitals so that we can properly publicise them. This will also help foreign tourists to know how many such centres we have and make a choice. “We are also working towards granting visas to foreign tourists based on recommendations from these centres and hospitals,” Mr Patel said.
The popular medical tourism destinations include India, Brunei, Cuba, Columbia, Hong Kong, Hungry, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the USA, amidst others. Medical tourism primarily and predominantly involves biomedical procedures, combined with travel and tourism. In India, the total number of inward medical tourists doubled in a span of just three years.
