SUN, FUN & PLASTIC SURGERY?

Americans are packing their bags and heading abroad for more affordable health care. Is that a good idea?

- Adam Piore

In the early 2000s, Josef Woodman’s elderly father, David Woodman, unveiled vacation plans that deeply alarmed his son. He was heading down to Puerto Vallarta, he announced, to find a Mexican dentist willing to cut him a good deal on a mouthful of new teeth. Would Josef like to come along, he asked, for “some sun and sand”?

Josef recognized instantly that his chances of heading off what seemed to be a potentially calamitous scheme were slim. His father, a 72-year-old retired businessman, had always been a “little bit of a geek and very eccentric,” Josef recalls. Weeks earlier, he’d disappeared down an internet rabbit hole in search of deals after an American dentist had quoted him a price of $34,000; by the time Josef got involved, David had long since emerged with the unshakable conviction that Mexican dentistry was the way to go. So after Josef’s initial efforts to torpedo the plan failed, he did the next best thing. He packed his bathing suit and went along for the ride.

The trip proved transformative. David Woodman returned home with an excellent tan and a beautiful set of a new teeth, acquired at a savings of $17,000. Josef, who had recently sold a computer book publishing company, returned with his career second act. Impressed with the quality of dental care in Mexico, he embarked on a two-decade odyssey that has since taken him to more than 300 medical and dental clinics in 35 countries and resulted in the publication of four editions of the book Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Travel.