Twelve Questions to Ask Before You Pay for a Flight

Four questions only the hospital can answer

Ask these in writing if you can. Spoken answers on a phone call disappear; an email does not.

• Does the hospital have a department that treats my specific diagnosis, and is it currently accepting patients? Not "do you treat eye disease" — your diagnosis, in the words your own doctor used.
• What are the registration requirements for a patient from my country? Which documents, in what form, in what language?
• What is the expected sequence and duration: first consultation, tests, decision, procedure, discharge? Give me a range, not a best case.
• What are the current medical charges for what I am asking about, and how is payment made?

Two questions only your own doctor can answer

These are not logistics. They are clinical, and a facilitator who answers them for you is answering outside their competence.

• Am I medically fit to fly, and to be treated away from my usual care team? Fitness to travel is a medical judgement about your body, not a scheduling question.
• What follow-up will I need afterwards, and can it be done at home? If the answer is "we would rather you stayed for three months", you need to know that before you book, not after.

Four questions about the people you are paying

Whoever is arranging your trip, these apply. If they are uncomfortable being asked, that is your answer.

• Are you the hospital, an agent of the hospital, or an independent service? Ask them to say it plainly. "We work closely with them" is not an answer.
• What exactly does your fee include, and what is quoted separately? Get the exclusions listed, not just the inclusions.
• Who is my named contact in the country, and what happens if something changes at short notice?
• If I cancel, what do I get back and when?

Two questions for yourself

These are the ones people skip, and they are the ones that cause the most regret.

• Can I afford the version of this trip where something goes wrong? Not the planned version — the one with extra days, a changed procedure, and a companion who has to stay longer.
• Am I doing this because it is the best option, or because it is the fastest one? Speed and quality are different things, and medical systems sell both.

What you should not be asked

There are things a legitimate service does not need from you at first contact: scans, full medical history, passport copies, a deposit before scope is agreed.

If somebody asks for those in the first message, before telling you what they do and what they charge, the order of operations is wrong. A real service can describe its scope and its price without seeing your medical file.