The Low Cost of Dental Implants Gives Tourists a Reason to Smile

Popularity of a Medical Tourism Package

People in the United States often travel long distances to have specialist medical procedures, however, while patients previously traveled shorter distances to Duke University or the Mayo Clinic, many are now booking medical tourism packages overseas to Costa Rica, Thailand, India, or Singapore.  

In 2006, it is estimated that over 500,000 Americans traveled overseas on one type of medical tourism package or another. Labor costs are low in these developing countries, and they are not battling malpractice suits, which entices many Western patients to take advantage of medical procedures they would not be able to afford back home.  This is especial true for Western patients who lack medical insurance.  

The Cost of Medical Care and Dental Implants

Patients booking a medical tourism package are able to take advantage of medical procedures which are not available to them in the US because of the cost. The cost of dental implants, knee surgery, heart surgery, and cosmetic surgery make health travel an affordable option for many working class Americans.  

Health travel is also often a life-saving experience for American patients like Howard Staab who was self-employed and could not afford the $200,000 (USD) heart valve surgery he needed two years ago. Booking a medical tourism package to India, Howard was able to have the life-saving surgery in India for only $6,700 (USD). 

The Necessity of Health Travel

In 2005, Indian hospitals treated 150,000 patients who found health travel an affordable way to get the medical procedures they needed or wanted. The costs of medical procedures in India are around 70-80% cheaper than in the US, and these savings attracted 58,000 Americans in 2005.  

Many of these US patients were not traveling for cosmetic surgery, but for surgery to save their lives. While health travel is often necessary for these patients, it is also a stressful time since even on the most luxurious medical tourism packages, they are traveling long distances, encountering new languages, and eating unfamiliar foods when they are at their weakest.