Facts about the medical tourism in Ecuador

Did you know that medical tourism may be one of the reasons why people are opting to retire in Ecuador? It is actually not a far-fetched idea.

But before we dwell into that, what exactly is the meaning of medical tourism? It is when people travel to other countries to get medical treatments. While some of you may think that this should not be necessary because living in a developed nation would give you access to what your health requires. That may be true but sometimes, it all comes down to the cost. For instance, medical treatments in the US may be advanced but it can also be very costly. In fact, Americans have always complained about the high price of health care in the country. This can become a problem for retirees because they only have a limited amount on their retirement fund. One critical illness could wipe out their savings.

This dilemma is actually how medical tourism happens. There may be a lot of reasons why people opt to retire in Ecuador and some of them happen to fall in love with the country because of their health care system.

Facts about the medical tourism in Ecuador

A lot of expats can attest to the fact that getting medical treatments abroad is just as good as the ones back home. In fact, some will even tell you that it is better in Ecuador. Thanks to this feedback, a lot of health care branches in developed countries, like the USA, have expanded to include countries like Ecuador. This makes retiring in this country for health care reasons more appealing.

If you want to retire in Ecuador to get access to these health treatments, you have to make sure that you know where they are. Ideally, you can find them in the big cities like Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil. In fact, Cuenca is being considered as the newest hotspot for medical tourism. It may be ideal to live in a remote beach house but if you know that you need to be close to the right medical facilities, then you should choose the city that you will live in very carefully.

What is most appealing about the health care system in this country is the cost of getting the right medical treatment. For instance, a heart bypass surgery will cost around $130,000 in the US but in Ecuador, it will only cost around $10,000.

You may think that they must be sacrificing quality. That is not the case. When you retire in Ecuador and you happen to use one of their medical facilities, you will realize that they can rival those that you have back home. Both the medical professionals and the facilities are of world class standard. Here you can get plastic surgery, dental procedures, orthopedics, surgery and other treatments for a fraction of the cost and it is guaranteed to be of high quality.

In case you want to get treated in this country, you need to present a valid passport and a T3 card. This card is available after you arrive – either at the borders or in the airport. This will automatically get you a tourist visa that allows you to stay in the country for 90 days. In case you want to stay longer or you are required to extend your stay for medical purposes, you can simply proceed to the immigrations office to request for an extension of up to three months.

Some of the people who retire in Ecuador visited the country only for medical tourism – not knowing that they will be staying for a longer time after. Once you experience the beautiful ambience, pleasant climate and you have socialized with the friendly locals, then you will find that living out your retirement in Ecuador is actually a very good idea.

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