Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT: THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
 Moving Out Of The U.S?

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

the 10 best places to retire in 2025

PLUS: A SPECIAL BONUS DESTINATION

Simply sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report… absolutely FREE

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

Home Countries Colombia

How Medical Tourism Saved My Life (And My Wallet, Too!)

Excellent Health Care For 1/10th The Price

by Deryl Fisher
Mar 24, 2022
in Colombia, Health Care, How to
0 0
Emergency room of the Pablo Tobón Uribe hospital in Medellin, Colombia

SajoR, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

Most people know it as “medical tourism.”

I think of it as being a thrifty and educated user of global medical services.

I started wearing glasses at age 5 so I could read the blackboard in first grade. When I was about 45, I graduated to bifocals. Then at the age of 55 I was told to consider trifocals. I baulked. I hadn’t gotten used to the bifocals yet.

My wife at the time was Colombian. When I spoke with her about my deteriorating eyesight, she suggested we go to Colombia to see about LASIK surgery.

In South Florida, where we were living, the cost for LASIK was US$3,000 per eye.

We traveled to Colombia where I had the procedure performed for US$300 for both eyes.

Six years later I was having trouble with hemorrhoids. I went to a doctor in Tampa, and he performed a colonoscopy. I had insurance at the time; my co-pay was US$100.

That doctor then referred me to someone else… who referred me to someone else…

In all, I saw a series of five specialists and paid out more than US$500 in co-pays.

And my problem was no better.

So I flew to Colombia to see a proctologist. He pursued a simple course of treatment that resolved the problem completely. The cost was less than US$60.

A bit later, when I was told I needed triple bypass surgery, I thought again of Colombia and did some research. I learned that the stent used often by U.S. doctors in a procedure to avoid cutting open the chest was developed in Colombia. The U.S. medical establishment kept it out of the country for 17 years before, finally, making it available. Gotta pay for those Benzes.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

I found a doctor in Barranquilla who did the triple bypass for me for a total cost of US$9,000. That’s less than someone with full insurance would be liable for in co-pay when having this procedure performed in the United States.

Now I didn’t make the decision to have this procedure performed in Colombia lightly or quickly. This was a big deal, and I carried out considerable due diligence on the doctor and the facility where the procedure would take place.

In the United States, I was told that, after the procedure, I would have a 50/50 chance of living another five years if I changed my diet.

It’s now been 14 years and 9 months since I had the procedure, and I’m doing great.

Recently I had a scab on my face that didn’t heal for more than a year. I went to a doctor who told me it was skin cancer and sent me to a dermatologist. They charged me US$425 to ascertain that it was indeed skin cancer, then told me it would take two or three more treatments to get rid of it and that each procedure would cost US$2,000.

It wasn’t easy to get information on how the charges would break down. In the end, I had to demand the details.

Frustrated, I called my now ex-wife in Colombia. She told me that her sister-in-law had a spot of the same kind on her face treated a year ago. The cost was the equivalent of US$18. That is the price for a Colombian in the national health care system. I know that I will pay more, but I’ll be surprised if the total cost is more than US$100.

Add in the round-trip airfare of about US$500, and I’m still way ahead.

Plus I get a trip to Colombia in the bargain.

Deryl Fisher
Full-time Expat

Tags: cost of medical care overseasDeryl FisherHealth Care Overseashealth insurance overseasmedical care Colombiamedical tourismmedical tourism Colombia
Share95Tweet52
Deryl Fisher

Deryl Fisher

Seventy-something Deryl Fisher moved to Panama and then the Dominican Republic for several years. Deryl spent several years in the DR driving a “pirate taxi.” He’s now learned some Spanish to a good level, though he continues to work on it, and has begun to work as a freelance writer in recent years, telling others all about his wide-ranging expat experiences.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on The 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
Our Expertise Unlocks The World

quick links

  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

LIOS Resources

  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
the 10 best places to retire in 2025
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2025

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

As seen in

US Media Logos

© 2008 – Live and Invest Overseas™ – All Rights Reserved.

About Us / Contact Us / Privacy Policy / Terms / Unsubscribe
Facebook-f X-twitter Youtube Linkedin-in Instagram

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
HOME

Top Countries

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Panama
  • Belize
  • Colombia
  • Cyprus
  • Mexico
  • France
  • Montenegro

Best For:

  • Health Care Abroad
  • Retirement Living
  • Cost Of Living
  • Investing in Real Estate
  • Establishing Residency
  • Gun Ownership
  • English Speakers
  • Safety
BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

Budgets

How Much Will It Cost
To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • The Panama City Beaches
  • Paris, France

Resources

Global Living

  • Living & Retiring Overseas
  • Raising A Family Abroad
  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
  • Offshore & Diversification

Making Money

  • International Real Estate
  • Banking
  • Employment
  • Investing
Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

Overseas Property Alert 

 

How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams

VISIT SITE

Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

 

Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

READ MORE

Explore Our Latest Posts

 

Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

EXPLORE

Conferences

Live and Invest In Spain Conference

VALENCIA, SPAIN Sep. 17-19, 2025
LEARN MORE
DISCOUNT

Offshore Wealth Summit

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
LEARN MORE
PRE-REGISTER

GREECE WORKSHOP

VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
LEARN MORE
PRE-REGISTER
MORE EVENTS

Contact Our Events Team:

Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
1 (888) 627 8834

From Outside North America:
1 (443) 599 1221

Working Hours
Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

Conference Kits

  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

Services

  • Overseas Living Letter: Affordable Retirement Guidance
  • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
  • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
VISIT OUR STORE

Free Report

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To retire in 2025

Sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report…

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

LIBRARY

Follow Us:

© 2008 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE to learn how. Plus, check out our FREE report on THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE


We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.