There are a bunch of medical destinations to choose from, and even adding in the travel cost you can save thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on better quality medical care.

There are other good options, you can choose whichever one you like, and Thailand is the medical destination I use.

By traveling to Thailand, you can instantly access higher-quality health care than in the US and most other countries at a vastly lower cost(more than 90% lower than the USD equivalent in many cases).

This is a direct comparison of local surveys showing the preference of locals for Thai health care over US health care; these bar graphs provide some comparative global context for those numbers.

These survey data are supported by the factual numbers of publicly available fee charts, hundreds of studies and analyses on Thai healthcare, and of course any number of firsthand medical experiences abroad like my own.

This article summarizes a few of the established benefits of Thai health care over the US for their respective citizens; 99.5% medical coverage of Thai citizens; $1-fee doctor visits; a longer Thai life expectancy than the US despite having 90% lower income per capita and a much lower GDP; far lower costs for procedures across the field.

Buy a plane ticket and you can take advantage of high-quality, affordable medical care, including dental and vision.

These are a few cost comparisons of the average US cost for common medical procedures compared to relatively expensive prices from the top Thai private hospitals. They are still a good example in that many of the costs at the most expensive Thai private hospitals are still 90% cheaper than the US.

Hip replacement? Save $40,000.

Heart bypass? Save $58,000.

IVF? Save $10,000-15,000 per procedure.

These cost savings can be found with all medications I’m aware of: common depression/blood pressure/anxiety medications, insulin, hormonal supplements, chemotherapies; every medication I’ve ever heard of is available in Thailand at the same or better quality at a much better price.

The effective and simple explanation is that the Thai government invested in health care. They bought new equipment, trained doctors in world-class universities for 30 years, and now there is a generation of Thai doctors rated among the best in the world in a country with cutting-edge medical expertise and equipment that anyone can access for pennies on the US dollar.

Those reduced fees that people like me pay for root canals and crowns are more than enough for Thailand to continue purchasing cutting-edge medical equipment and funding the training and expertise of their world-class medical professionals.

Please ask here or message me about any medical tourism questions or concerns, and if you have medical needs you can’t afford, seriously consider traveling to a country with a better-developed health care system.