Timeshares and Your Surgery
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Have you been on a medical vacation?
In case you are not familiar with the term, a medical vacation is one where you combine vacation travel with medical treatment, typically surgery. Categorized under the broader topic of “medical tourism,” the idea of traveling to another country to have surgery, especially elective procedures, is growing in popularity.
Cost, of course, can be a driving factor in the decision by Americans to travel overseas for medical treatment. A November 2007 report (which appears below) prepared by Healthbase, identifies incredible savings, and cites the example of a hip surgery that costs $12,000 in India, but averages $48,000 in the US.
Other reasons often given for traveling abroad to receive medical treatment include: shorter wait times to schedule procedures; relaxed and private location for recovery; new or experimental procedures available that are not yet offered in the US; and the cost savings means you can bring family members along to enjoy the trip as a vacation while you spend your time recouping.
This week South Korea, a country seeking to cash in on medical tourism, announced the debut of the foreign medical tourist visa, designed to simplify the process of traveling to Korea for medical services. Thailand issued a press release, just this week, identifying that they are targeting Qatar, Japan, and England as sources for medical tourists. The release says that the government of Thailand seeks to become a, “medical tourism hub for high-quality, low cost health and medical services,” and goes on to explain that a breast augmentation, that in the US would cost between $3,000 and $8,000, in Thailand costs approximately $2,000.
CNNHealth.com identifies the following destinations as medical tourism hotspots:
- Brazil
- Singapore
- Central America (specifically Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica)
- South Africa (home to what has been dubbed, the scalpel “safari”)
- Malaysia
- South Korea
- Hungary
- India
Timeshare Resales and Timeshare Rentals Fit in this Picture Perfectly
Since you aren’t likely to want to go directly from the hospital to a plane headed home, you will probably want a place to spend a few days before and after your surgery, as well as the fact that your travel companions will need accommodations during the time you are hospitalized. Where would you rather be, a hotel room or a spacious timeshare with kitchen facilities, perhaps separate bedrooms, internet access, and so many of the comforts of home?
That’s easy to answer. You will want space to quietly relax, and spend some down time before you return home. And since the whole idea of the trip was to save money, timeshare resales and timeshare rentals fit that plan perfectly.
Not only are there amazing options in timeshare resales, but if you decide to return for follow-up treatment or to have additional medical procedures performed in that same city, a timeshare makes the rescheduling of your accommodations especially easy.
