In 2010, more than 20,000 medical tourists visited South Korea. The majority were Korean-Americans. Overall, medical tourism was up 52 percent from 2009, which public health officials in Korea attribute to expensive U.S. healthcare.

The biggest group traveling to South Korea for care wasn't looking for lifesaving treatment, though. Fourteen percent of medical tourists to the country received cosmetic surgery.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute in the U.S. is working to offer insurance plans that direct even more patients to South Korea. According to Do-hyun Jo, manager of the institute, it hopes to attract more non-Korean patients to the country.

United States

Surprise! The biggest share of medical tourism dollars actually goes to the United States. Those coming to the U.S., however, aren't looking to cut costs. No, medical tourism to the U.S. is based simply on the high level of medical technology here.

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