For patients travelling from the USA & Canada
No Insurance, No Year-Long Wait: Medical Treatment in India for North American Patients
The reason an American and a Canadian each end up looking at treatment in India is usually different — and worth being upfront about, so you know exactly which problem this solves for you.
For US patients: it's almost always about cost
Without full insurance coverage, major surgery in the US is priced in a way that puts it out of reach for a lot of families. Published 2026 estimates:
- Heart bypass surgery (CABG): roughly $90,000-$200,000, averaging around $123,000
- Knee replacement: $30,000-$60,000 depending on setting (ambulatory surgery centre vs. hospital inpatient)
$123,000
Average uninsured US cost for heart bypass surgery (CABG)
$9,000
Our cardiac care package, fully inclusive, starting price
Our packages for the same procedures start from $9,000 (cardiac) and $7,000 (joint replacement) — often a tenth of the uninsured US price — including hospital care, transfers, and a supervised Kerala recovery stay. See the full breakdown on our packages page.
For Canadian patients: it's almost always about time
Canada's publicly funded system means cost isn't usually the barrier — the wait is. National data shows the average wait from a family-doctor referral to orthopedic treatment running close to 48-49 weeks, and only around 61% of knee replacement patients treated within the 26-week national benchmark in 2024. Regional performance varies — some provinces report median waits nearer 15-18 weeks, others considerably longer, with a meaningful share of patients waiting over a year. If your mobility or quality of life is deteriorating while you wait, that delay has a real cost even though the surgery itself doesn't.
48–49 wks
Average Canadian wait, referral to orthopedic treatment
61%
Treated within Canada's own 26-week benchmark, 2024
Flights from North America
From the US and Canadian East Coast, flights to Delhi typically run around 14-16 hours, usually with one stop via Europe or a Gulf hub such as Dubai or Doha. From the West Coast, expect closer to 17-19 hours total. Connections to Chennai usually add a further short domestic leg. We confirm the most practical routing once your treating hospital and dates are set, and arrange airport pickup for you and any attendant.
The visa step for US and Canadian passport holders
Both nationalities need an Indian Medical Visa (M-Visa) — there's no visa-free route for treatment purposes. The application is built around a formal invitation letter from your treating hospital, which we coordinate once your case has been reviewed. A companion travelling with you applies separately for a Medical Attendant Visa (MX-Visa). See our full Medical Visa guide for the document checklist.
Where you'll be treated
We refer North American patients into the same vetted hospital network used for every case — Apollo Hospitals and MIOT International in Chennai, and Medanta and Narayana Health, matched to your specific procedure. Full detail on each is on our hospitals page.
Recovery before you fly home
Most patients spend a supervised recovery stay in Kerala before the long flight home — proper physiotherapy and Ayurvedic therapy suited to the procedure, rather than managing early recovery alone in a hotel room. See how recovery works.