Indian hospitals have gained monopoly in medical tourism and Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. benefits director Bonnie Blackley interestingly remarked–”The employees don’t care, because where else they are going to go? Well India of course!

Blue Ridge is just one of several U.S. companies offering “medical tourism” medical plans — will send one of its employees to a New Delhi hospital next month for a pair of surgeries that will save the company $10,000 over what the procedures would cost in America.

The hospitals have a monopoly,” says North Carolina-based Blue Ridge

As medical costs in the United States continue to rise, more and more employers are sending employees in need of costly surgeries overseas to receive treatment.

A number of U.S. employers that fund their own health insurance plans have started sending their employees to countries such as India and Thailand for operations that can costs tens of thousands of dollars more in the United States.

Tens of thousands of Americans have begun traveling overseas for costly medical procedures in recent years, since the savings can be significant. For example, Arthur Milstein, chief physician at HR consulting giant Mercer Health & Benefits, says a coronary bypass surgery at Apollo Hospitals in India costs about $6,500 — compared to the same surgery that costs an average of $60,400 in California.

Hospital associations in the United States say medical tourism will only make healthcare price problems worse, however, many Americans have no other choice but to travel abroad for surgeries they would otherwise be unable to afford.

The problem in “America is though it has the best medical treatment,” much of it is inaccessible was the comment of the founder of Malibu insurance company.