Safari With That Liposuction?

Americans looking to get cosmetic surgery are eschewing expensive procedures at home and opting for "medical tourism," traveling abroad for cheaper procedures—that sometime come with exotic vacation perks. Countries including South Africa, Argentina, Thailand, Brazil and Singapore are marketing their health services to Americans with the promise of lower prices—and, CNN reports, a vacation getaway.

"In the US, it would have cost $20,000 for the procedure alone, with no time in the hospital," says one American patient whose $10,600 paid for a facelift, followed by sightseeing, in Thailand. Surgeries in foreign countries are more inexpensive due to favorable exchange rates, lower salaries and lower malpractice-insurance costs, which are high in the US. (More health care stories.)