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"Jeanne Bennett, 50  Hip resurfacing, June 2005, India She saved: $30,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;The surgery wasn&amp;#039;t FDA-approved, so my insurance wouldn&amp;#039;t cover the cost.&amp;quot; (Read her story here.) Best part: &amp;quot;The hospital staff. They were really attentive.&amp;quot;  Worst part: &amp;quot;The long flight back home was hard on my hip.&amp;quot;  My one regret: &amp;quot;Leaving India too quickly. We stayed for 10 days, but it would&amp;#039;ve helped to spend another week recuperating.&amp;quot; My advice: &amp;quot;Find out who your surgeon will be and get references from people he or she has operated on.&amp;quot; *All savings are approximate. Jennifer Schilling, 38 Hysterectomy, April 2007, Malaysia She saved: $24,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;It was my best option, medically and economically.&amp;quot; (Read her story here.) Best part: &amp;quot;The cost. Also, going overseas forced me to rest. At home, I would&amp;#039;ve gone back to work without recuperating properly.&amp;quot;  Worst part: &amp;quot;The flights. I will do this again \u2014 and the next time, I&amp;#039;ll plan daylong layovers.&amp;quot; What surprised me: &amp;quot;The hospital. It was very clean, very modern \u2014 it didn&amp;#039;t look like it was in a developing country.&amp;quot;  My advice: &amp;quot;Use a booking agency, but be sure to check them out with the Better Business Bureau to confirm that the company is legitimate.&amp;quot; *All savings are approximate. Robin Kinney, 43 Knee surgery, December 2006, India She saved: $7,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;I had no other choice. I desperately needed knee surgery, and I didn&amp;#039;t have the insurance to pay for it.&amp;quot; (Read her story here.) Best part: &amp;quot;Getting my knee fixed for good. Even if I have insurance in the future, I&amp;#039;d rather go abroad for an operation. The hospital staff cares about the patient, not just the payment source.&amp;quot;  Worst part: &amp;quot;When I first saw the EKG machine, I thought, What have I done? \u2014 it looked seriously out-of-date. But in the operating room, everything was state-of-the-art, so I stopped worrying. Also, some of the aides didn&amp;#039;t speak English. But we learned to communicate using hand gestures.&amp;quot;  My advice: &amp;quot;Before you go, ask your doctor how long he recommends staying after surgery. Then plan to stick around for a few days longer, so you can heal properly before flying.&amp;quot; *All savings are approximate. Mary Percak-Dennett, 50 Knee replacement, June 2007, Malaysia She saved: $73,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;My doctor said that if I didn&amp;#039;t get my knee replaced, I&amp;#039;d be in a wheelchair by the end of the year. But I had no insurance, so I would&amp;#039;ve gone bankrupt paying the fee (almost $90,000, including surgery, hospitalization, and physical therapy). In Malaysia, the price tag was $17,000, including airfare and meals.&amp;quot; My advice: &amp;quot;If you&amp;#039;re reading something that doesn&amp;#039;t make sense, ask someone until you get an answer. I kept a running list of questions for both my doctor and the booking agency.&amp;quot;  *All savings are approximate. Patty Sanden, 50 Hysterectomy, May 2007, Costa Rica She saved: $13,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;I needed a hysterectomy, but it would have run around $17,000 in the U.S. In Costa Rica, it was $3,500 (not including airfare and hotel, which were around $3,000). My husband also needed major dental work \u2014 $6,000 in the U.S. versus $1,400 in Costa Rica.&amp;quot; (Read her story here.) Best part: &amp;quot;How professional and thorough the doctors were. And the staff treated me like a celebrity.&amp;quot; Worst part: &amp;quot;My American doctor refused to speak to my surgeon in Costa Rica. She said she didn&amp;#039;t feel comfortable, and left it at that. She agreed to send a copy of my records, but they didn&amp;#039;t arrive until three weeks after my operation. Luckily, I&amp;#039;d gotten an ultrasound elsewhere, so my surgeon had that to work with. As for the language barrier, the doctors all spoke English, but few people on the support staff did, so my bilingual driver did a lot of translating.&amp;quot;  What I wish I&amp;#039;d packed: &amp;quot;More clothes. We had no facilities to wash our own, and the hotel&amp;#039;s laundry rates were much higher than I expected.&amp;quot;  My advice: &amp;quot;Get a copy of your medical records before you go, and work with a booking agency. It was really helpful that the company I used [Medical Tours International] took care of prescreening doctors and hospitals.&amp;quot; *All savings are approximate. Eileen Clemenzi, 57 Hip replacement, August 2006, Malaysia She saved: $33,000* Why I went abroad: &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t have insurance, so I would&amp;#039;ve been forced to foot the entire bill for the operation.&amp;quot;  Worst part: &amp;quot;The hotel didn&amp;#039;t have handicapped bedrooms or bathrooms, which are best for recuperating. And the furniture was so low that it was hard to sit down when my hip was still healing. The first week was rough, until I figured out how to get myself around.&amp;quot;  My advice: &amp;quot;Use a concierge service. The MedRetreat facilitator back home held my hand through the whole experience. Every time my phone rang, I knew it was Jud.&amp;quot;  *All savings are approximate. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a1575/cheaper-health-care-testimonials-1007/>