Costs and waiting times
Published price ranges and waiting times for some common procedures in the USA, the UK, Canada and India, with where each figure comes from.
Figures are indicative ranges, not quotes; your exact cost is confirmed in writing before you travel. Costs depend on your diagnosis, the hospital, the surgeon and the implant. Prices exclude flights and accommodation.
What the same procedure costs
The figures come from different sources and are calculated on different bases, so treat them as a rough guide. All figures are in US dollars. Canadian residents usually pay nothing at the point of care for publicly covered procedures, so the Canada column shows private self-pay clinic prices, converted from Canadian dollars at 1 USD = 1.3975 CAD (European Central Bank reference rate, 3 November 2026).
| Procedure | USA1 | UK1 | Canada2 (private self-pay) | India3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart bypass (CABG) | $70,000 – $200,000 | $24,000 – $40,000 | — | $6,000 – $9,000 |
| Angioplasty with stent | $28,000 – $45,000 | $15,000 – $20,000 | — | $3,500 – $6,000 |
| Hip replacement | $40,000 – $65,000 | $15,000 – $20,000 | $12,880 – $21,467 | $6,500 – $9,500 |
| Knee replacement | $50,000 – $70,000 (both knees) | $18,000 – $25,000 (both knees) | $12,880 – $20,036 (one knee) | $7,000 – $10,000 (both knees) |
| Spine surgery | $80,000 – $150,000 | $25,000 – $40,000 | — | $7,000 – $12,000 |
| Liver transplant | $300,000 – $500,000 | $150,000 – $200,000 | — | $32,000 – $40,000 |
| Kidney transplant (living donor) | $150,000 – $200,000 | $80,000 – $100,000 | — | $16,000 – $22,000 |
| IVF (per cycle) | $15,000 – $20,000 | $6,000 – $8,000 | $8,837 plus medication $2,147 – $4,293 | $2,500 – $4,000 |
| Bariatric surgery | $20,000 – $35,000 | $12,000 – $15,000 | — | $5,500 – $8,500 |
| Cataract surgery (per eye) | $3,500 – $6,000 | $2,500 – $3,500 | $1,789 – $3,220 | $700 – $1,200 |
| Dental implant (per tooth) | $3,000 – $5,000 | $2,000 – $3,000 | $2,147 – $3,578 | $600 – $1,200 |
| Chemotherapy (per cycle) | $3,000 – $5,000 | $1,500 – $2,500 | — | $200 – $500 |
— No published figure found.
1 USA and UK: published industry estimates, Forerunners Healthcare cost table (forerunnershealthcare.com, accessed November 2026). No source year is given; treat as indicative. For comparison, a US surgery centre publishes cash prices of $17,579 for a total hip replacement and $17,679 for a total knee replacement (Surgery Center of Oklahoma, 2026).
2 Canada: private self-pay prices, indicative. Hip, knee and cataract: BC private surgical centre estimates (bcmedicalaccess.ca, 2026). IVF: basic cycle fee, Mount Sinai Fertility, Toronto (fees effective June 2026). Dental implant: all-in price, Millrise Dental, Calgary (2026).
3 India: indicative ranges from published industry estimates (Forerunners Healthcare, accessed November 2026; liver transplant range set by Care Beyond Borders from the same published ranges). Your hospital confirms the actual cost in writing.
How long you may wait
Each country measures waiting differently, so the columns are not directly comparable.
- USA: average days to a new-patient specialist appointment, not to surgery.
- UK: NHS England referral-to-treatment waits so far for people still on the list (median).
- Canada: median weeks from GP referral to treatment, from a survey of physicians.
- India: no official waiting-time data exists for private hospitals.
| Procedure | USA4 | UK5 | Canada6 | India |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart bypass / angioplasty | 32.7 days (cardiology appointment) | 9.6 weeks (cardiothoracic surgery) | 19.6 weeks (elective cardiovascular surgery) | — |
| Hip / knee replacement | 12 days (orthopaedic appointment) | 13.9 weeks (trauma & orthopaedics) | 48.6 weeks (orthopaedic surgery) | — |
| Spine / neurosurgery | — | 13.4 weeks (neurosurgery) | 49.9 weeks (neurosurgery) | — |
| Cataract | — | 10.4 weeks (ophthalmology) | 31.8 weeks (ophthalmology) | — |
| Bariatric | — | 12.8 weeks (general surgery) | — | — |
| All procedures | 31 days (new-patient appointment, 6 specialties) | 12.2 weeks | 28.6 weeks | Typically days to about two weeks after report review (indicative; no official data) |
— No published figure found.
4 AMN Healthcare, Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times, 2025.
5 NHS England referral-to-treatment statistics, August 2026 (published October 2026). Specialty medians derived from NHS data; indicative.
6 Fraser Institute, Waiting Your Turn 2025 (December 2025). Ophthalmology figure indicative.
India: hospitals set their own schedules; timing is typical, not guaranteed, and depends on your reports and the hospital.
Get a written estimate
Ask the hospitals you choose for a written reply, before you decide anything.