Citizens in the United States have suffered and still are suffering from high cost of healthcare. Citizens suffered a great deal of economic burden due to not being able to pay for surgical procedures and hospital stay in the United States. The concept of medical tourism is to offer millions of citizens the opportunity of lower cost in healthcare. Burkett (2007), stated, "the concept of traveling for health care is certainly not new, in the seventeenth century, the wealthy of Europe traveled to spas and specialty hospitals on the Nile, but during that time it has been only recently that travel across the globe has been safe, fast, and inexpensive enough to support the resort hospitals that comprise the backbone of the medical tourism service industry". (1) .
Some medical procedures are not available in many countries. Some countries even prohibit certain surgeries despite their widespread success worldwide. For example, hip resurfacing was not available in the United States of America despite resounding success around the world in many medical tourism hospitals (Horowitz, et al., 2007) Furthermore, the patients who pay out of pocket, and even some patients with higher deductibles, find that some procedures are so costly that they could not simply afford them. This is despite the pressing medical need. A heart bypass can cost over $100,000 in America, while the price could be just $11,000 in other countries (Horowitz, et al., 2007). Furthermore, since these procedures are performed routinely for patients worldwide in popular medical tourism destinations, the surgeons tend to be more skilled due to their practical experience (Horowitz, et al., 2007). .
Horowitz, Rosenweig, and Jones (2007), stated, "medical tourist would prefer to have major surgery in their hometown hospital or regional referral center if they felt the cost is feasible or reasonable option." (2) On the other hand, I think determined United States citizens will travel in other countries for medical treatment and procedures.
