Anytime you require treatment or care for your heart it is a serious matter, and because it does deal with the heart, cardiac surgery is one of the most serious surgeries currently available.  Add to that the high cost of receiving the surgery (nearly $ 60,000 in the United States and £ 30,000 in Europe) or having to be put on a waiting list is enough to put most people in a serious predicament.  Fortunately for them there are other options.

Medical tourism is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide.  Countries around the world are ramping up their facilities and training to offer low cost, high quality medical care for those who wouldn’t be able to receive it otherwise.  Several countries currently on the list of premier medical tourism destinations are Costa Rica, Panama, Turkey, Hungary, Israel, Thailand, and Singapore.  Each of these countries offers modern facilities and top of the line technology; however, there are two countries in particular that have continued to stand out as a top medical tourism destinations – India & New Zealand.

Not only does India offer state of the art technology and facilities and procedures, but most of the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel were trained in the U.S. or other western countries.  India also offers many of the cardiac surgeries that people around the globe are requiring such as open heart surgery, beating heart surgery, angioplasties, peripheral vascular surgery, pediatric cardiac surgery, and aortic aneurysm surgery.  Also, because there is no overhead and the doctor, anesthesiologist, and other fees are considerably less, most surgeries are available at 1/10th the price in the U.S.

Being a first world country, New Zealand is often left of the list of low cost medical tourism destinations.  However, just because they offer top of the line services and procedures and are considered some of the best in the world by the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons does not mean that they are out of reach.  Most of their cardiac procedures cost 50% of the price in the U.S.  For those traveling from North America or Europe, there is also the added benefit of a shared European based culture as well as speaking English as the first language.

The only downside to traveling abroad for cardiac surgery is the extended recovery time.  Most surgeries take a week or so before you are cleared to travel home; however, there are some that require a longer stay.

If you are facing cardiac surgery, don’t think that paying high insurance premiums is your only hope.  Medical tourism is advancing and with more regulations being put in the place, there has never been a safer time to try it for yourself.