When I retired early and convinced my husband to just quit his job so that we could travel internationally living a nomadic lifestyle, medical insurance was my number one concern. Mind you, this was about 15 years ago so things have maybe changed, but we ended up buying international healthcare coverage through an American company.

We were surprised to discover that it was affordable as long as we didn’t ask for coverage inside the United States. In other words, it was about half the price as long as we went anywhere else in the world to receive treatment. Anywhere! But if we were to return home and end up in the hospital, we knew it could break us, so we paid double the price for world coverage including the United States.

That’s when I knew that the insurance companies also know that healthcare coverage is less expensive anywhere else in the world. I don’t think most Americans truly understand that. Eventually, we settled back in the United States but continued to winter in Spain until Covid. I keep a dentist and a doctor in Spain because both offer me services that are many times cheaper even though out of pocket.

So I’ve dabbled in medical tourism as well which has become more common in the United States.