BlueCross BlueShield Of South Carolina Launches Subsidiary To Facilitate Medical Tourism

This is the first type of service I have seen combining local health services and tourism in one package to speak...allowing 2 visits with local physicians...BD

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina recently launched a subsidiary, Companion Global Healthcare, to help U.S. patients plan trips to Thailand for lower-cost medical procedures, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. BCBS will cover patients' procedures organized through Companion Global if their BCBS plan allows the travel, according to spokesperson Elizabeth Hammond. Hammond said the insurer also will cover two follow-up visits with physicians at Doctors Care centers in the state.
While the subsidiary was created several months ago, no South Carolina resident has outsourced any procedures yet, the Post and Courier notes. The company is "one of the first efforts of its kind" in the nation and "reflects several trends," such as an increase in medical tourism, increasing health care costs and rising health standards in Asian countries, according to the Post and Courier.