MADISON, Wis. -- While the skyrocketing cost of health care in the United States often acts as a hurdle for anyone who's ailing, many Americans are heading overseas for ways to get the care they need -- with a lower price tag.

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Costa Rica, India, Thailand and Singapore are just a few of the countries that are catering to more and more Americans -- almost 800,000 of them last year -- for their health care needs. The practice is known as medical tourism, WISC-TV reported.

Although people have been going abroad for medical care for years, the reason it's changing now is that medical care in other counties is getting better and less expensive than in the U.S. Even some insurance companies are giving the idea a closer look.

The last thing Bob Svetlik said he cared about was seeing the world. Last October, however, when he needed surgery to repair an arthritic left hip, Svetlik said his malady ended up taking him on the trip of a lifetime.

Svetlik, 56, had lived an active lifestyle before his hip pain took over.

"I found myself having difficulty with steps. I loved jogging and I could not do that," he said.

Svetlik, who's the owner of a hardwood flooring business, said he needed to regain his mobility, but first, he knew he needed some type of major surgery.

A doctor in nearby Oshkosh told Svetlik he would need total hip replacement and it would come with a minimum price tag of $35,000. While the Svetliks were covered by a Christian health care organization, the price just seemed overwhelming.

"You know, you just trust the doctors that you talk to in the United States, that they know what they're doing and that's the best route to go. But, when I saw the cost, I thought there's got to be another way," he said.

That's when Svetlik tracked down a company called Healthbase. The Newton, Mass.-based company facilitates travel overseas for Americans, many of whom are underinsured or uninsured.

It was Healthbase that led Bob and his wife, Cindy, to India, where they connected with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vijay Bose at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi. Apollo is the first Indian hospital to receive certification from Joint Commission International (JCI), which is the same gold standard for hospitals used to certify hospitals in the United States. Bose is one of the foremost surgeons in the world, in the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing method, WISC-TV reported.

While American doctors recommended total hip replacement, which would have likely worn out and required more surgery within a few years for a person of Svetlik's age, Bose's Birmingham method, according to what doctors told Svetlik, "could last 100 years."

This course of action might avoid more surgery. What's more, the cost of the procedure would be a substantial savings. Bose's hip resurfacing surgery was only $7,000. For the entire cost of travel, accommodations, meals, passports for the Svetliks, the total bill was $12,500. His Christian health coverage group was more than happy to pay the entire bill, he said.

Medical tourism has been around for decades and was often reserved for plastic surgeries, dental work and other elective procedures. In the 21st century, however, some insurance companies are often faced with footing the bill for $100,000-plus procedures such as bypass surgeries. They're giving medical tourism a closer look.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin started a pilot program this year, administering a plan for a self-insured West Bend printing company, Serigraph, Inc.

While Anthem doesn't cover Serigraph employees, it administers all trips for them through Healthbase, according to Anthem medical director Dr. Michael Jaeger.

"Procedures are generally elective. They're all elective. They are things people can travel. They have where people can usually get a standard outcome, hip surgery, knee surgery," Jaeger said.

Anthem sent a group over to India, where members of the organization went through Apollo Hospital in New Delhi and felt its standards were good enough to warrant participation in its pilot program.

Jaeger said he thinks there's a chance medical tourism will emerge as a bigger player in the health care picture for Americans.

"If people have that option to get what they perceive as a better value, I think it will set forth some type of competition to provide that kind of value," he said. "I think that's really where we have to go in this country, is paying for the best care at the most reasonable cost. Whether large hospital systems see it enough to adjust their rates, that's still to be seen."

Whether or not medical tourism would drive down health care costs in the U.S, it certainly has done that already for Svetlik, who was out working on floors just days after his surgery. He's also resumed jogging.

"When I saw the cost, I thought there's got to be another way, and I'm so glad I went this route," he said.

Healthbase helped Svetlik with everything from sending X-rays to India, to lining up his surgery and hotel stay.

As a cost comparison, a hip replacement in India costs $6,300 versus $24,000 in the U.S., a $18,000 savings. Hip resurfacing costs $48,000 on this side of the Pacific Ocean, while it's about $7,000 in India. For heart procedures like angioplasty or a heart bypass, the savings can be $37,000 to almost $50,000 for one operation.

Despite the benefits, there are potential drawbacks. Traveling is a concern right after certain surgeries and it can take 20 hours to fly to India. Complications also can be a concern because a patient might be on their own as far as any legal recourse if they get home and something goes wrong.