Medical tourism is becoming a billion dollar industry. Thousands of Americans are expected to travel abroad for inexpensive medical procedures in the coming year.

Ohio resident Jim Rudee told NBC25 his story as a medical tourist in Belgium.

50-year old Jim Rudee loves to take walks around his quiet neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. He wasn’t always able to take those walks comfortable.

“I walked with a severe limp at the age of 46 and it wasn’t any fun,” said Jim.

Jim thought he was too young to get hip surgery but his pain kept getting worse.

“The pain got to be so bad I would wake up in the middle of the night and the bone felt like it was rubbing a nerve. I would reach down and dislocate my hip and move it to get it off that," said Jim.

After several doctor visits, Jim said he was told he would need a procedure called hip resurfacing.

Not wanting to see his private health insurance premium jump over the next few years, the self employed sales professional looked into traveling out of the country for the procedure and paying for it out of pocket.

Jim scoured the internet which eventually led him to Planet Hospital and its president Rudy Rupak.

“He did a fantastic job of helping me put everything together,” said Jim.

Planet Hospital is based out of California and was created in 2002.

The company specializes in helping people like Jim find hospitals in other countries.

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