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Medical Tourism in Korea

This article originally appeared at 10mag.com.
Words by Michael Song
At the turn of the 21st century, a new industry began to grow at a tremendous rate due to rapid dissemination of information through the Internet and overall increases in international travel. People were traveling across borders internationally for the main purpose (sometimes sole purpose) of seeking medical treatment. Sometimes this was due to new medical advances made in other countries but the most popular reason was due to lower costs. For example, in 2009 the cost of coronary artery bypass surgery was $144,000 in the U.S. while it was $24,000 in Korea. Many patients from the U.S. and Europe were heading to Malaysia, Thailand, India and Singapore to meet their medical needs at a fraction of the price. Read more