The Philippines stands to gain billions of dollars of foreign exchange earnings from medical tourism and as a retirement location (including specialty clinics, retirement and wellness facilities) in the next few years if it seizes existing opportunities in these fields, particularly in the U.S. where an estimated 4.0 million Filipinos reside, of whom 2.0 million are either retired or close to retirement.

Other markets that have been identified are countries around the region, such as Korea, Taiwan and Japan

Reporting on the results of a recent Hospital Clusters’ Road Show to the U.S., former DTI Secretary Cesar B. Bautista, Co-Chair Private Sector of the National Competitive Council (NCC) and Co-Chair of the PPP Task Force on Globally Competitive Philippine Service Industries, said that potential revenues from medical tourism initiatives by the private sector, primed up by the government through enabling policies, could amount to as much as US$2.0 billion in 5 years.

This amount would come from consultation and surgical procedure fees, hospital and laboratory fees as well as living expenses to be incurred by patients and their families or companions during their stay. A major source of revenue would also be retirees particularly Filipino-Americans and nationals from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

The Hospital Road Show, organized by the Committee on Health and Wellness under the PPP Task Force on Globally Competitive Philippine Service Industries, a public-private-sector partnership chaired by former DTI Secretary Rizalino S. Navarro, the Department of Health, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Tourism, was composed of owners and senior management of nine of the country’s leading hospitals, including Asian Hospital, Makati Medical Center, Medical Center Manila, Manila Doctors Hospital, St. Lukes Medical Center, Capitol Medical Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Heart Center and The Medical City.

The mission made presentations before big hospitals, HMOs, insurance firms and major publicly listed companies in San Francisco, New Mexico, and New York. Appointments and meetings were arranged by the Philippine Trade Attaches and Consuls General in these locations, including those with Filipino-American communities.

These audiences expressed interest in the Philippines as a viable alternative destination for medical procedures and for retirement.

Thus, Filipino-Americans reached by the mission said they look forward to retiring in the Philippines particularly if the issue of insurance portability, Medicare, is effectively addressed.

The PPP Task Force will now focus on this issue of insurance portability to allow US based Filipinos to retire in the Philippines and avail of its medical facilities and services.

“The country must continuously and aggressively promote our advantages in wellness and health to attract patients initially from the U.S. and their families as well to come over and avail of medical services in our hospital and health care facilities,” Bautista, who also served as the country's Ambassador to the U.K., added.

Ruy Moreno, member of both the PPP Task Force and the NCC, who headed the first Hospital Clusters' Group mission to the U.S., said that among the U.S. states deemed potential markets for the country's medical tourism services and facilities is Utah, from which Mormon missionaries have been coming to the Philippines for many years, and also California, where awareness is high of the country's potential as a medical tourism destination.

The Philippine medical community's proven competence, availability of international- level facilities and equipment, as shown by Philippine hospitals receiving JCI accreditation, and successful experience in major procedures including hip surgery and heart bypass as well as lower cost of these and other procedures in local hospitals, can anchor a determined and long-term campaign to make the country a preferred medical tourism destination, Moreno said.

Strong interest was also expressed during the mission's visit in kidney transplants, for which there is a very large demand, said to be 55,000 patients currently, in the U.S

Chairman Bautista pointed out, however, that a strong lobby must be mounted to have U.S. Medicare allow the reimbursement of the medical expenses to be incurred by U.S. medical tourists in the Philippines.

A second hospital mission to the U.S. organized this time by the Department of Tourism and beefed up by Philippine consulates and trade offices, will be leaving this year to try to enlist more medical tourists to the country.

A third initiative will be directed at getting Filipino-American retirees to visit their homeland for six to nine months annually or retire here on a permanent basis.

Optimizing the country’s potential as a medical tourism destination is part of the government's strategy to enhance the competitive advantage of key industries, especially those geared for generating foreign exchange earnings

The National Competitiveness Council was set up in October 2006 as a Public-Private Task Force on Philippine Competitiveness by virtue of Presidential Executive Order No. 571, to Accelerate the country’s competitiveness from the bottom third of rankings to the top third by 2010.