Thought this interesting.

"To cut its insurance costs, a U.S. papermaker plans to let workers seek medical care abroad in 2007. It’s an experiment many employers are considering.

----a test case for his company which is set to provide a health-benefit plan that allows its employees and their dependents to obtain medical care overseas beginning in 2007."

The employee will go to India for the surgery and will be compensated $10,000 because of the savings. The article is on Moneycentral at:

http://tinyurl.com/mabq8

I've heard a lot of people going to Bangkok and India, but not Europe, which is where you posted this.

Thank you, wally34949, I am aware of where I am. There have been a nnmber of posts regarding healthcare costs, etc. on this board.

Eastern European countries are increasingly mentioned on UK TV as faves wth that population for hip replacement, cataract and other surgeries with long waiting lists in Britain.

I know a lot of people who do the South American surgery thing, and a few who do detox treatments in Germany, but I had always considered traveling abroad for surgery a luxury plan. I guess, though, it does make sense. I mean, when I went to the hospital in Morocco, it was free!

And Hungary has long been known for good, and possibly cheaper, dental care than elsewhere in Europe.
Some Hungarian tourist websites have a special section about this.

I've heard of people going to Poland and Hungary for dental treatment and Cyprus for tummy tucks etc.

I wouldnt be able to get all excited about a forthcoming holiday if it meant going to a dentist or surgeon!

Perhaps not surgery exactly but nutritional testing for psychiatric problems is done by a doctor in Dublin based on the American Pfeiffer Center model. There is a website at www.omega3.20megsfree.com

When I travel there are quite a few things I'm willing to scrimp on. Life altering surgery is not one of them.

I've heard of a lot of people going to India for surgery, especially cosmetic because of much cheaper costs...

Brazil seems to be the latest craze for cosmetic surgery.

Yes, but if things go wrong, what legal recourse do you have if you aren't a citizen of that country???

I usually go to Buenos Aires for dental
work. Excellent professionals . I usually need, root canals and porcelaine crowns , it is a steal.

I'm continually amazed at how inexpensive health care is in Europe. We live in Belgium right now, are not part of a "Mutuelle" and have to pay out of pocket for everything, which we are supposed to then get reimbursed by our health insurance. I saw an orthopedic specialist who took x rays of my knee and the total cost was about 45 euros. A trip to the emergency room for a cat bite was about 30 euros. Once I had to pay for a medication that was 90 euros for a 3 month supply and both the doctor and pharmacist were shocked that I wasn't freaked out about paying it. If only they knew that that's how much just my co pay was in the US!

Seriously, there have been several articles in Belgium recently about "medical tourism;" apparently Belgium is a hot spot. Particularly for organ transplants and sexual reassignment, I think. And infertility treatment, that's huge too.

A couple of years ago, one of the American 'news magazine' TV shows featured a story on some women from Britain who went to Hungary? for plastic surgeries and were terribly disfigured by incompetent 'doctors'. So, one should not be too enticed by 'price' without performing due-diligence, just as you should at home. By the way, this same problem is a frequent occurence in countries like Brazil, where there is an enormous pressure on women to have these surgeries but who often can't afford a good doctor.

Too bad Yanks can't legally go to Cuba, which arguably has one of the world's best medical services, especially for a poor country - they regularly export doctors. But even if you went the round about way via Canada the law says you can't spend a penny on any Cuban product or service anywhere in the world - even smoking Cuban cigars in Europe or in Canada is a violation of the law and subject to prosecution!

Health care is free in Spain and we pay 30% of the cost of medicines (by "free" I mean it is paid by the National Social Security System, that gets the money from our taxes). Dental care is free for children until the age of 12 (brackets excluded). But I donīt think you can come from the US and get an operation at no cost (except if you have an accident here, in this case all costs are covered by the Spanish government).

In any case, when my friends from Connecticut have come to visit and have fallen sick, all treatments have been for free.