New Lobbying Group Launched to Support Medicare Reimbursement Overseas
The U.S. healthcare system already suffers from a shortage of doctors, and with Baby Boomers flooding the market (by 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be age 65 or older) it is sure to increase; the government cannot financially or practically afford to bring more people into an already overcrowded, understaffed marketplace.
“This new coalition serves to help protect Americans, by ensuring they receive access to quality healthcare from foreign hospitals and doctors, while living or traveling abroad. Squire Sanders is proud to work/join forces with the IHRC to achieve this important goal,” said Scott Edelstein, Partner at Squires Sanders about their new agreement with the IHCC.
The partnership between the MTA and the IHCC is designed to ease the burden on the U.S. healthcare system by allowing Medicare-eligible Americans living abroad to receive their Medicare treatment overseas rather than paying to travel to the U.S. for similar care. The group will give a voice to healthcare providers, insurance companies, overseas governments and hospitals that would benefit from a revamped structure that allowed Americans to receive their Medicare services in the countries they reside in (or those nearby).
Additionally, Medicare recipients will benefit by avoiding the prohibitive costs that result from having to travel from their foreign homes to the U.S. One of the newly formed group’s priorities is to conduct research to determine the potential cost savings of having medical treatment of a quality similar to that in the U.S. available in countries all over the world.
“Millions of Americans live and retire overseas,” said Renee-Marie Stephano, president of the Medical Tourism Association™. “If these overseas Americans are given the choice, it could save Medicare millions of dollars.”
The group is currently in the application process of a 501(c) (4) designation by the Internal Revenue Service. Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the exemption for educational and scientific organizations which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which insures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. The MTA and IHCC will be meeting in person Oct. 24 at 2 PM at the 5th Annual World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress, held on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami.
