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What you were quoted,and what it usually costs.
Put in a number. We'll tell you where it sits against typical 2026 pricing — at home, at a US transparent-pricing facility, and abroad. No catch.
The ballpark check
typical 2026 ranges · never quotesYour ZIP doesn't change the numbers below. US prices swing hard by region and we'd rather show you an honest national range than a fake-precise local one. We pass it along only if you ask us for real quotes.
Want real quotes against this?
We'll pass your procedure and budget to accredited providers and send back what comes in. Your number and procedure go with it, so nobody wastes your time.
The part nobody explains
Why the same operation has five different prices
Nothing about the surgery changes. What changes is who is paying, what they negotiated, and how much of the bill has nothing to do with the operating room.
The list price is fiction
A hospital's chargemaster rate is an opening position, not a cost. Insurers pay a negotiated fraction of it. Self-pay patients are the only people ever asked for the full number, which is exactly backwards.
The bill arrives in pieces
Surgeon, anaesthesia, facility, pathology, implants — each can bill separately, and a quote often covers only the first. A bundled all-inclusive price and an itemised one can look wildly different while describing the same day.
Overhead isn't clinical
Malpractice premiums, billing departments, unreimbursed care and labour costs vary enormously between a US hospital, a US physician-owned surgical centre, and an accredited hospital in Medellín. The surgeon's training may be identical.
Three honest options
Where the number can actually go
In roughly the order most people should try them.
Go back to your provider
Ask for the cash or prompt-pay rate in writing, and ask what the quote excludes. This costs one phone call and it works more often than people expect — a self-pay discount is the cheapest saving available to you, because there's no travel attached to it.
A US transparent-pricing facility
A small number of US surgical centres publish complete, all-inclusive prices and hold them. On mid-sized procedures this is frequently the best total outcome once you count flights and time off. It is a genuine option and we score it as one, not as a straw man.
Accredited care abroad
The gap becomes decisive on big-ticket work. Colombia ranked first in the Western Hemisphere and 22nd globally in the WHO's health system assessment, published in its 2000 report — pair that historical ranking with a facility's current JCI status and the individual surgeon's ReTHUS registration before you commit to anything.
Typical 2026 ranges, midpoint to midpoint
Where the gap is worth a flight
The difference between a Colombia range and a US range, by procedure. Read this as a rough sort order, not a promise — the bar is wide because the underlying ranges are wide.
Percentages compare the midpoint of a typical 2026 Colombia range against the midpoint of a typical 2026 US range. They exclude flights, lodging, time off work and any second trip. On anything under the 30–40% mark, run the total-cost maths before you book a ticket.
No small print
How we're paid
This tool is free and always will be. If you ask us to help you get real quotes and you go on to have treatment with a provider we introduced you to, that provider may pay us a referral fee. That's the whole model.
Two things follow from it, and we'd rather say them out loud. We have a financial interest in you choosing care abroad, so we've built the tool to show you the US transparent-pricing option with the same seriousness — and to tell you plainly when it wins. And we never charge you anything, so a referral fee never comes out of your pocket or gets added to your quote.
We are not a clinic, not an insurer, and not your doctor. We publish ranges to help you ask better questions. Every treatment decision is between you and a licensed clinician.
Questions people actually ask
Before you use the number
Where do these numbers come from?
Three places, and we keep them separate on purpose. The US typical range is compiled from published self-pay and billed-charge data for 2026. The US cash figure, where one exists, is a real published all-inclusive price from a transparent-pricing surgical facility — Surgery Center of Oklahoma posts complete prices for every surgery it performs, covering the facility fee, the surgeon's fee, the anesthesiologist's fee and uncomplicated follow-up care. The Colombia range is a typical 2026 all-inclusive range. If we can't source a number, it isn't in the tool.
Why is there no US cash price for my procedure?
Because for cosmetic surgery, dental work, LASIK and IVF, the US market is already a cash market — the price you're quoted is the cash price. There's no hidden transparent-pricing tier to find. Showing you a second US number there would be theatre, so we don't.
Is a lower price a worse surgeon?
Not automatically, and not usually. Price gaps between countries are driven by labour costs, malpractice insurance, facility overhead and currency — not by surgical skill. That said, price alone tells you nothing about a specific clinic. Verify the individual surgeon's registration and the facility's accreditation before you book anywhere, including at home.
Does the tool ever tell people to stay in the US?
Regularly. On smaller procedures, once you add flights, lodging and a second trip for revisions, a US transparent-pricing facility often wins outright. The gap only becomes decisive on big-ticket work. We'd rather be useful than on-message.
Do I have to give you my email to see the result?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and shows you everything before any form appears. If you then want help getting real quotes, there's a form — but the reference point is free and unconditional.
What does “all-inclusive” actually cover?
It varies, which is exactly why quotes are hard to compare. Ask any provider to confirm six things in writing: surgeon's fee, anaesthesia, facility fee, implants or materials, post-op garments or medication, and follow-up visits. A quote that confirms all six is comparable. One that confirms two isn't.
Ballpark
Short, numerate pieces on how surgical pricing works and how to read a quote you've been handed.