The government is all prepared to develop a working group to discover all the possibilities of joining the Indian hospitals, wellness centres and Ayurveda clinics with all foreign insurance firms. This is expected to boost up the medical tourism sector in India, the Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel has recently said. He has also said that the main target is to make sure that foreign nationals looking for medical treatment in India can come here without hassle and with their own insurance that would be recognized by all health centres here.
To quote the minister, “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.” Also, the officials have said that the ministry has recommended that foreign tourists coming to India may get attractive priced Covid-19 insurance covers as well. This would be a part of the plan of the ministry to revive the sector post the coronavirus crisis.
“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 as well as the departments concerned here,” Patel said.
Officials have also said that the ministry is making deeper studies on insurance policies introduced by Singapore and other countries. As per a report published by the Allied Market Research, in 2019, the global medical tourism market accounted for $104.68 billion 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.
As the sector is rapidly rising high, say, officials, limited medical coverage, lengthy or partial reimbursement by payers and visa approval issues can immensely dampen its massive growth.
“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 in 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,” Patel said.
Over 130 nations worldwide are competing for a slice of this business. Some of the most popular medical tourism destinations include India, Brunei, Cuba, Columbia, Hong Kong, Hungry, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the USA among others. Primarily, it covers primarily biomedical procedures, combined with travel and tourism.
Tags: Indian hospitals, wellness centres and Ayurveda clinics
