For patients comparing facilitators
Questions to ask any medical travel facilitator
Most facilitator websites make the same offer: free help, an instant quote, a personal case manager. Some of that help is exactly what it looks like. Some of it is paid for on the hospital side — industry reporting describes commissions of roughly 7.5–30% of the treatment bill — and the cost does not vanish; it sits inside the treatment price you are quoted. When the hospital pays the person assembling your shortlist, the shortlist has a reason to lean toward whoever pays most.
You do not need to guess who is who. A short set of questions separates honest facilitators from the rest, because honest answers hold up when you check them and invented ones fall apart. Ask them in writing, ask them of every facilitator — and then run the same checks on us: our answers are further down this page, checkable before you pay anything.
Before you commit to anyone
The questions that separate honest facilitators from the rest
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Who pays you for my case, and how much?
A straight answer: A payer and a number, in writing, before you commit: a patient-paid published fee, a hospital-paid disclosed commission, or a disclosed mix of the two. An answer that dodges the number — “our service is completely free for you” — is itself the answer.
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Is your fee published on your website, in numbers?
A straight answer: Figures anyone can read before the first conversation — not “affordable”, not “contact us”. A facilitator that publishes its fees is one whose price you can verify before you invest any time.
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Will the hospital quote arrive itemized, on the hospital’s letterhead?
A straight answer: It should list room category and daily rate, surgeon and anaesthesia fees, implant and drug costs, investigations, and the number of hospital days assumed — on the hospital’s own letterhead, not retyped into the facilitator’s PDF. Lump-sum package numbers are where padding hides.
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Will the quote survive a direct call to the hospital’s billing desk?
A straight answer: Call the hospital’s international billing desk yourself and confirm the figures. A legitimate facilitator encourages this and hands you the contact — it is the test padding cannot pass, so treat reluctance as information.
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Is your fee invoiced separately from the hospital bill?
A straight answer: Two documents, not one. When the facilitator’s income and the hospital’s charges sit on separate invoices, every line has a name on it and either can be audited.
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What legal entity is behind the website?
A straight answer: A registered company name, a physical address, and a phone number that a human answers — details you can cross-check against India’s online corporate registry. A contact form and a free email address are not accountability.
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Is there a written agreement, with a refund policy?
A straight answer: Before you pay: what is included, what is not, what happens if you cancel, and what happens if the hospital’s plan changes after admission. Verbal assurances on WhatsApp are not a contract.
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Can we speak to the treating specialist before we travel?
A straight answer: Before flights are booked, a facilitator with a real hospital relationship can arrange a teleconsultation with the specialist relevant to your condition. A case manager who deflects every request to speak with a doctor is answering a different question.
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How are medical records moved?
A straight answer: Through access-controlled links rather than an open group chat, with nobody demanding your entire file — or your passport — before giving you any pricing signal.
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What happens when plans change?
A straight answer: Ask for the mid-journey version of the checklist: request a current itemized statement from the hospital’s billing desk directly and compare it with the quote you accepted. Legitimate differences exist, and honest operators explain them line by line, in writing.
One habit runs through all ten: ask for specifics you can check — the named coordinator handling your case, the hospitals proposed for your diagnosis, the numbers behind every claim — and put your questions in writing. Honest operators answer paperwork with paperwork.
Run the same checks on us
Our answers, checkable before you pay anything
We take no commissions from hospitals. Our fees are paid by you, published upfront, and itemized separately from your hospital bill.
- You pay each hospital directly, on the hospital’s own invoice — we never hold treatment money.
- Aditya Malpani, the founder, is the named grievance officer: the person who quotes your plan is the person who answers for it.
We respond within four business hours. · aditya@medtu.care
We are a small team — on weekends, expect a reply within one business day.
We protect your medical records with encryption in transit and at rest, single-use per-case access links, full access logging, strict data-minimization, and a documented breach-response procedure — security practices aligned with the data-security principles of the EU GDPR and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
Medtu Care is a medical travel facilitator. We are not a hospital, and we do not provide medical care. All medical decisions rest with you and your treating doctors.
Common questions about choosing a facilitator
How do facilitators that advertise free help actually make money?
Which single question tells me the most about a facilitator?
How can I check that a hospital quote is real?
Should I skip facilitators and contact hospitals directly?
Who pays Medtu Care?
What should I ask before sharing my medical reports?
Ask us the hardest one
Put these questions to us directly
Bring the question from this page you think is hardest — about fees, quotes, records, or who answers when something changes. You can also read the full fee schedule, with crediting and refund rules, before you write to anyone.
We respond within four business hours. Or use the contact page.
We are a small team — on weekends, expect a reply within one business day.