Expats face a welter of hidden health costs if falling ill in the US.
Figures from accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte suggest federal budgets have underestimated spending on healthcare by more than $10,000 per person.
The reason is cited as out of pocket expenses not covered by medical insurance.
Spiralling medical costs in the US often leads families to seek care from family and friends or alternative remedies that keep down the costs of drugs.
Medical care involving a hospital stay or course of medication is expensive, which pushes sufferers away from mainstream care.
Unfair financial burden
Seniors – the over 65s – often bear an unfair share of medical costs because they are on a relatively low fixed income that does not cater from emergency or long-term care.
The problem is expected to worsen, says the report from Deloitte, as seniors live longer and need more medical care. Their budgets are already stretched financing retirement and if their lifetimes lengthen, the financial strain increases.
The challenge for medical carers will be providing the services an elderly, aging population demands at a price they can afford to pay.
The report also noted that consumers spend a lot of money on vitamins, health food and alternative medicine practitioners – often on tending to medical conditions that a doctor should treat.
Deloitte urged doctors and medical services to develop better treatments to stop patients drifting into the alternative market.
The real problem is everyone is conscious of the cost of healthcare and the strain long term illness can exert on a budget
Putting off care
“Increasing costs may lead consumers to put off seeking treatment or not to go to a doctor at all,” said the report.
“Putting off medical care could mean some consumers will suffer poorer health and present conditions that are even more expensive to treat because of the delay in going to a doctor or hospital.
“Policy makers should also try to work out how to reduce the care burden on family and friends, as this can lead to lost work and a decreased income that is difficult to replace.”
As a result the firm is urging healthcare professional and government to take up the challenge and innovate with new medical and care procedures that serve the market better and divert some of the cash going to alternative medicine back into the mainstream.
Deloitte calculates that around $3.2 trillion a year on alternative medical remedies, and even a small amount of those dollars would transform healthcare services.
