Report: Medical tourism numbers overstated

NEW YORK, May 6 (UPI) -- A U.S. consulting firm says the number of people who travel outside their country for medical treatment is lower than marketers report.

McKinsey & Co. said research suggests about 60,000 to 80,000 patients travel for medical treatment each year, with most patients looking for faster service and high quality rather than lower costs, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

That figure is sharply lower than the number given by medical tourism marketers, with one marketer saying 1.3 million medical tourists visit Asia each year, the newspaper said.

McKinsey found that 40 percent of medical travelers are people from developing countries who travel primarily to the United States seeking high quality care, 32 percent traveled to another country for better care than was available at home and 15 percent were seeking faster service. About 9 percent were patients from the United States seeking lower costs for medical procedures.

The findings were based on data from nearly 50,000 patients around the world.

McKinsey said the number of U.S. patients seeking cheaper care abroad could eventually grow to 710,000 procedures a year.