Medical agencies

Many of those needing treatment in the US and elsewhere turn to medical agencies to find the right hospital and set up appointments. An agent can charge several thousand dollars to connect the patient with a clinic.

Saint Lucia is a Beijing-based agency that specializes in arranging overseas medical care.

Cai Qiang developed his business by connecting the new rich in China with advanced technologies and medical services in the US. “The discrepancy between limited medical resources in China and sufficient financial strength of China’s new rich will generate numerous opportunities for American medical facilities.”

Patients with life-threatening diseases, such as lung and breast cancer and melanoma, make up 80 percent of his company’s clients, said Cai, adding that the average treatment trip from China to the US costs $100,000 to $150,000 in medical bills, and in some cases could be high as $700,000.

Cai’s company recently received an investment from Sequoia Capital China, and in May the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, signed an agreement with Saint Lucia to receive Chinese patients through the company.

The Mayo Clinic said the number of its patients from China has more than doubled over the past year. It now has a Web page in Chinese and has put interpreters on staff. “China, probably of all countries, is the one where we see the greatest growth right now,” said Mikel Prieto, the medical director of the Mayo Clinic’s international office. He declined to provide specific figures.

Cai said his company also has contracts in the US with Partners HealthCare, the largest network of hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, McLean Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

In response to a public outcry over a decline in the scope and quality of healthcare services, since 2008 China has tackled transforming its troubled healthcare system, which suffers from chronic government underfunding, inequalities between urban and rural areas and overpriced, low-quality medical products and services.

According to the finance ministry, in 2014 China spent $133 billion, or about 6 percent of national fiscal spending, on healthcare. But national funding falls far short of what is needed for an aging population that is increasingly plagued by chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. And McKinsey forecasts healthcare spending in China will reach approximately $1 trillion by 2020.

So far, the healthcare reform has roughly achieved the government’s goals and the world’s most-populous country will likely reach its medical reform targets by 2020.

According to a World Bank report, Chinese people are willing to spend more to get better medical services and treatment. However, high-end quality medical care remains the exception throughout the country, and is obtainable only by the privileged few.