Medical Tourism: What To Know About Traveling For Healthcare

Earlier this summer, U.S. women’s rugby team player Ariana Ramsey came home from the 2024 Paris Olympics with more than just a bronze medal. She also returned with a pair of free eyeglasses and a new TikTok bio that read: “Universal Free Healthcare Advocate.”

Following her team’s victory against Australia, the 24-year-old Olympian went viral on TikTok by documenting her experience receiving completely free healthcare in the Olympic Village. Ramsey had dental and vision exams, as well as a pap smear.

“Of course, I’m amazed. We don’t have free healthcare in America,” she said in a video responding to people’s comments about her excitement for the complimentary services. “So, yeah, I’m amazed by free healthcare.”

Most of us mere mortals will never see the inside of an Olympic Village, let alone partake in its medical practitioner perks. But Ramsey’s experience reflects a phenomenon that many people are participating in: medical tourism. American patients are traveling all over the world to undergo medical procedures, physical exams and surgeries.

One of the main reasons for medical tourism, unsurprisingly, is cost. When Anna McKitrick, a 30-year-old who hosts vegan food tours around the world, woke up one morning in July 2020 with excruciating pain in her mouth, she knew she had to do something — and fast. “I woke up and thought someone shot me in the face,” McKitrick told HuffPost. “I’d never been in that much pain in my life.”

She ended up having the tooth extracted in the United States but needed an implant urgently. “When you extract a tooth, it’s a bit of a time crunch,” she said. “You have to put something in the empty space or it will mess up your teeth for life.”

She was working as a server in Los Angeles at the time, and even with dental insurance, she was quoted $40,000 to cover the work she needed done.

McKitrick’s mom, who also dealt with a related problem and had a similar procedure done in Switzerland, did some research. She was referred by that Switzerland clinic to a surgeon that trained at a facility in Costa Rica.

“I didn’t have $40,000 to spend on my teeth,” McKitrick said. “After looking into it, we decided going to Costa Rica would be the best option.”

Once there, she had two implants, crowns and four cavitation surgeries for a quarter of the price it would have cost in the States ― around $10,000.

The financial appeal is undeniable. Healthcare in the U.S. is often understandably criticized for being overpriced and overcomplicated. According to health policy organization KFF, people in the United States owe at least $220 billion in medical debt.

It’s just one of the reasons medical tourism has grown in popularity both domestically and internationally, according to David Vequist, professor and founder/director of the Center for Medical Tourism Research at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

While it’s difficult to know the exact numbers because there are many procedures done on the gray and black market, “wellness tourism by itself is estimated to be an over trillion-dollar industry,” Vequist told HuffPost.

According to Patients Beyond Borders, a medical tourism guide, Mexico is the most-visited destination for medical travel, followed by Costa Rica, Thailand, Turkey and Colombia. Among the most popular procedures Patients Beyond Borders has reported on are general and complex dental work (65%), cosmetic and plastic surgery or non-invasive cosmetic treatments (15%), bariatric or weight loss treatments (5%), and fertility treatments (5%).

Mexico is such a popular destination for medical tourism that it even has dedicated border entrances specifically for medical tourists, with Vequist recalling how he once breezed through a security line with a doctor — a process that can usually take hours.

But cost is not the only reason for medical tourism’s popularity. People also travel to other countries for procedures that are not covered by their insurance in the United States or when something, like a medication or treatment, is not available here.

“There was a time before Lasik was approved by the FDA in the United States that it was available in Mexico, so people would travel there to have the procedure done,” Vequist said.

However, not everyone in the medical industry is on board with patients traveling for treatment.

Dr. Kelly Killeen, a Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon, has recently emerged as a voice on TikTok, warning her followers about some of the potential downsides of medical tourism, specifically as it pertains to cosmetic and elective surgeries.

“I try to start these conversations the same way every time, which is to say that there are wonderful doctors all over the world,” she told HuffPost. “The key to finding a wonderful doctor is being able to check credentials, check facilities, and knowing the local rules for how doctors practice. The problem with going out of the country is that we’re not familiar with their systems. Unless you are from the country, with an intimate knowledge of how the system works, it’s a risk.”

“The good surgeons in those countries are not significantly cheaper than the United States,” she continued. “It’s very important to understand that if you’re going somewhere that’s charging a tenth of what you paid in Los Angeles, it’s very unlikely that you’re going to a top-notch surgeon and facility.”

Although Killeen acknowledged that the American medical system has made care difficult and cost-prohibitive, she said that in the case of some of these cosmetic surgical procedures, the risk does not outweigh the reward or the savings.

“On a weekly basis, I get two to three people in my DMs asking for help during a post-op period where they can’t get ahold of the surgeon they saw,” she said. “It breaks my heart to say that legally I cannot provide them with medical care. They end up in the emergency room, and that’s not where they should be ― they should be in their surgeon’s office.”

Proximity to your doctor is something to be mindful of as a potential drawback for medical tourism. McKitrick, who ended up having to fly back to Costa Rica for a follow-up procedure, said she was not “financially or emotionally prepared” to go back.

“If I were to do it again, I’d probably go to a place I was more familiar with, or a place where I know people, as it was a bit tough emotionally being post-op in a completely foreign country,” she said.

Another consideration to keep in mind when seeking treatment abroad is the difference in legal systems. As Vequist said, the U.S. is extremely litigious, making the process of pursuing damages in the event that something goes wrong more straightforward.

“You can sue for anything,” he said. “The doctor, the hospital, the dentist needs to be fearful. Internationally, there is very little ability to pursue damages.”

The other aspect to think about ahead of any medical tourism is factoring in the cost of travel.

In a viral TikTok video posted in June, Bryn Elise shared her experience having a full day of medical exams in Turkey to the tune of $810 ― something she jokingly said would cost “36537951 zillion dollars in the US.”

“Personally, I’d rather spend $700 on a flight to Turkey, get dozens of tests there, and take a whole vacation, rather than spend the thousands that this would have cost in the United States,” she said in the video. Since then, she has released other videos where she shares her test results, follow-up appointments and tips on how to schedule the same treatments.

Ultimately, doing your research, working with people you trust and vetting your doctors are crucial when considering seeking out treatment internationally. For McKitrick, even with the follow-up, she overall doesn’t regret getting her procedure done outside of the country.

“I didn’t have any other options,” she said. “It was either do this, or not get my teeth done — which would mean I would have no teeth. And I’m really glad I did it. Even now, I would do it all over again.”