This year’s Medical Tourism Congress (Oct. 26 – 28 in Los Angeles) features Costa Rica in its portrait of the growing trend of going overseas for affordable care.

The focus on Costa Rica’s medical system doesn’t surprise me. I lived there, and ended up having major surgery in the capital city of San Jose. No hospital stay is fun, but I received very competent care, and the bill didn’t push me to the brink of bankruptcy (the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. is said to be unpaid medical bills.)

In the Medical Tourism Conference video, we see Bob (his last name is not provided) from Orlando, Florida, as he flies to San Jose, Costa Rica, to have a double knee replacement at Clinica Biblica, one of the top rated facilities in a country. Bob consults with English-speaking doctors, jokes that this is the first time the doctor was waiting for him, and sings the praises of Costa Rican medical care. He even fits in a visit to the rainforest aerial tram at Braulio Carillo National Park.

The video says Bob’s double knee surgery would have cost $100,000 in the U.S., and that it cost him about $20,000 in Costa Rica.

The video has that marketing vibe, where you wonder if they’re telling you the full story. But it happens to be true that Costa Rica’s not a bad place to go for medical care. No system is perfect, but I’ve had surgery (lucky me!) in both the U.S. and Costa Rica, and felt I received good care in both cases. And the cost difference is staggering.

This year’s medical tourism gathering hopes to draw as many as 2,000 participants.  Last year’s congress (the first of its kind) drew around 850 attendees from 45 countries. Insurance companies and insurance providers came, along with representatives from hospitals, clinics, and governments around the world. Everyone wants in on this new industry, which, according to Deloitte, will have up to 23 million Americans traveling internationally for medical care by 2017, spending up to $79.5 billion dollars each year.

For more on health care in Costa Rica

Photo credit: zipline from Skytrek, Monteverde