UCLA contracts insurer to bring more Korean patients.HOSPITALS usually don't go farther than across town seeking new patients, but UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX has set it sights across the Pacific. The university's medical center has entered into an unusual insurance pact that will bring in well-heeled Koreans for major orthopedic surgery Orthopedic Surgery Definition Orthopedic (sometimes spelled orthopaedic) surgery is surgery performed by a medical specialist, such as an orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon, trained to deal with problems that develop in the bones, joints, and ligaments and treatment of cancer, heart disease and neurological conditions Neurological conditions A condition that has its origin in some part of the patient's nervous system. Mentioned in: Pervasive Developmental Disorders . Cambridge, Mass.-based WorldCare Inc., which until now facilitated second opinions by U.S. specialists to foreign patients via the Web, will provide the patients. Its new insurance subsidiary is selling secondary insurance to Korean residents--who otherwise are treated by that country's national health service--that will provide them access to UCLA and three other top U.S. health systems. UCLA officials don't expect that the agreement will immediately draw large numbers of foreign patients, but they say it should expand the number now being treated, which amounts to about 1 percent of its caseload case·load n. The number of cases handled in a given period, as by an attorney or by a clinic or social services agency. caseload Noun . "It does provide an opportunity down the road to see a larger number of patients," said Mark Gelhaus, director of international relations international relations, study of the relations among states and other political and economic units in the international system. Particular areas of study within the field of international relations include diplomacy and diplomatic history, international law, at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. . "It's fairly unique." Officials with WorldCare say they brought UCLA into the network because of its West Coast location, top reputation and the fact that Los Angeles has the largest population of Koreans outside the Korean peninsula. Some Korean nationals already come to UCLA for treatment. "It was very important to us that the hospital was able to cater to an international clientele," said Dr. Joel Kahn, president of WorldCare's Global Health Plan. The plan is aimed at upper-income Koreans who can afford a supplemental insurance policy, with costs ranging from about $300 a year for children to $4,000 for a 50-year-old person. It provides up to $1 million in medical. surgical and travel expenses, but it's a catastrophic plan limited to the four major illness categories. Kahn said other international insurance carriers market secondary policies in countries with national health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract but usually they only provide a cash benefit and patients are on their own in locating a U.S. doctor. The other participating systems are the Cleveland Clinic, Duke University Health Systems and Partners HealthCare System Inc., which includes Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital Health care The major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, widely regarded as one of the best health care centers in the world . Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237, or at ldarmiento@labusinessjournal.com. |
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