Do you have enough money saved in the event of a medical emergency? Could you pay for immediate surgery? More people, not only from the U.S. travel abroad for surgery on a yearly basis. Raising health care costs in the United States, as well as difficulty in receiving medical care due to rules and regulations by HMOs has prompted frustrated Americans to seek health care elsewhere.

For example, heart bypass surgery in the United States may cost an individual over $130,000. The same procedure costs under $7,000 in India, or $35,000 in South Korea. Likewise, a hysterectomy in the United States may cost between $20,000 and $30,000, while the same procedure in Costa Rica costs less than $5,000.

Medical tourism is a viable, effective and affordable option for today’s medical travelers, from Iraq to Nigeria to the United States. Affordable and quality medical care, physician’s services and surgical procedures from cosmetic and plastic surgery to cardiac care to obesity and bariatric procedures are available in places like Ageless Wonders in Panama to Artemis Health Institute in India to Cedyt in Argentina.

Patients traveling abroad should always verify the quality of care and facilities by ensuring that the Joint Commission International, an accreditation agency, or the International Society for Quality in Health Care, approves them. A large majority of physicians and surgeons who practice in international destinations have been trained as well as certified in the United States.

Foreign medical providers are held to high standards of medical training and experience, but medical tourists should always ensure that their international medical providers are accredited by local as well as international standards of care and training.