In a country where 62% of all bankruptcies are the result of skyrocketing healthcare bills, it’s clear that the U.S. has a healthcare expenses problem [1]. Combine that with some of the worst mortality rates in the developed world, and you start to understand how Americans are in a lose-lose situation when it comes to healthcare options. In contrast, countries like India, China and Thailand offer healthcare procedures of the same caliber of the United States at up to one tenth of the cost. With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that medical tourism is on the rise.

Medical tourism is the process of traveling to another country for medical procedures that may not be offered in one’s home country or are too expensive in the country an individual resides in. The concept of traveling for healthcare initially began as a way for people from less developed countries to receive medical treatment that was not yet available in their own countries by traveling to more developed countries. Now, however, people from more developed countries like the United States are actually traveling to less developed countries for medical procedures [2]. In these less developed countries, people are able to have medical procedures done at a fraction of the cost it would have taken back home, and often they receive better patient care than they would at home. In addition, patients find it attractive that many of these countries offer procedures that have not yet been approved by the FDA.