Healthcare cost outside India, Comparison of healthcare cost in Indian and other popular Indian tourist destinations

Is travel insurance really necessary? Don't most places not charge for emergency care?

While Travel insurance is not a mandatory requirement for International travel (except to the Schengen countries in Europe), it is highly recommended that the traveller treats an insurance policy as a mandatory part of their travel documents just like the air ticket, visa or foreign exchange. It is most definitely necessary given the significantly high costs of medical treatment abroad apart from the other non medical risks like Personal Liability or Missed Flights or Baggage and Passport losses that could inadvertently happen and ruin an otherwise well planned holiday. The traveller must understand that the insurance policy is in place post completion of immigration at an Indian port/airport and hence any emergency even at an early stage of the trip is covered.

While it is true that across the world emergency medical care is provided to a patient irrespective of the status of their insurance coverage, the hospital/medical establishment does seek to recover the costs related to the emergency care from the patient post recovery. Hence the traveller could land up with a sizeable medical bill to pay irrespective of their insurance coverage and hence it is advisable to have an insurance policy in place to offer financial support at a critical time like this.

Compare the healthcare and hospitalization costs in foreign nations and other popular Indian tourist destinations across the globe. Healthcare costs are extremely high in most foreign countries and it is important to buy good overseas travel health while traveling outside India.

Health care and medical treatment cost comparison

Medical procedure	USA	Costa Rica	India	Jordan	S. Korea	Mexico	Israel	Thailand	Malaysia	Poland	Singapore	Turkey
Heart Bypass	$123,000	$27,000	$7,900	$14,400	$26,000	$27,000	$28,000	$15,000	$12,100	$14,000	$17,200	$13,900
Angioplasty	$28,200	$13,800	$5,700	$5,000	$17,700	$10,400	$7,500	$4,200	$8,000	$5,300	$13,400	$4,800
Heart Valve Replacement	$170,000	$30,000	$9,500	$14,400	$39,900	$28,200	$28,500	$17,200	$13,500	$19,000	$16,900	$17,200
Hip Replacement	$40,364	$13,600	$7,200	$8,000	$21,000	$13,500	$36,000	$17,000	$8,000	$5,500	$13,900	$13,900
Hip Resurfacing	$28,000	$13,200	$9,700	$9,000	$19,500	$12,500	$20,100	$13,500	$12,500	$9,200	$16,350	$10,100
Knee Replacement	$35,000	$12,500	$6,600	$9,500	$17,500	$12,900	$25,000	$14,000	$7,700	$8,200	$16,000	$10,400
Spinal Fusion	$110,000	$15,700	$10,300	$10,000	$16,900	$15,400	$33,500	$9,500	$6,000	$6,200	$12,800	$16,800
Dental Treatment	$2,500	$800	$900	$900	$1,350	$900	$1,200	$1,720	$1,500	$925	$2,700	$1,100
Gastric Bypass	$25,000	$12,900	$7,000	$7,500	$10,900	$11,500	$24,000	$16,800	$9,900	$9,750	$13,700	$13,800
Hysterectomy	$15,400	$6,900	$3,200	$6,600	$10,400	$4,500	$14,500	$3,650	$4,200	$2,200	$10,400	$7,000

Travel Insurance useful links