This is not a medical-tourism page. Nobody goes abroad to get dialysis; people on dialysis want to go abroad at all, for a wedding, a funeral, a winter, a last look at somewhere, and are told by the price of a session that they cannot. Roughly half a million Americans depend on dialysis, three sessions a week, every week. The per-session price of hemodialysis is the number that decides whether they can travel, and it varies by a factor of ten across this table.
Key takeaways
- A single hemodialysis session runs $500–$1,500 at US cash or out-of-network rates; the same session is $120–$250 in Colombia and $100–$200 in Turkey.
- Medicare does not pay for dialysis outside the US except in very limited circumstances; some Medicare Advantage and employer plans do, with prior arrangement. Read your plan before you book anything.
- The constraint is not usually price abroad; it is lead time. Transient dialysis needs a receiving unit to accept you, review your records and confirm a chair, typically two to four weeks out.
- Colombia has one of the densest dialysis networks in Latin America, including units run by the same multinational operators that run US centers, which makes record transfer unusually smooth.
The by-country table
The price column is one in-center hemodialysis session (roughly four hours) for a transient patient with stable chronic kidney disease, including standard consumables and nursing. Peritoneal dialysis patients travel with their own supplies, which the manufacturers can ship ahead in most of these countries; ask your PD nurse about the delivery lead time rather than pricing sessions. The second column is the typical lead time to arrange a transient slot.
| Country | Hemodialysis (per session) | Lead time to arrange | What the range usually includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $500 – $1,500 | Same-chain transfer: 2–4 weeks | Cash or out-of-network rates at private chains; Medicare's bundled rate is far lower but applies only to enrolled patients at contracted centers. Transient (visitor) dialysis is arranged center-to-center. |
| Colombia | $120 – $250 | 2–4 weeks; records in Spanish or with translation | Large national network of chronic dialysis units, including the same multinational operators that run US centers, in every major city. |
| Mexico | $130 – $300 | 2–3 weeks | Private units in major cities and resort areas; quality varies. |
| Costa Rica | $180 – $350 | 3–4 weeks | Private units in San José; limited outside. |
| Turkey | $100 – $200 | 2–3 weeks | Extensive private network; popular with European dialysis travelers. |
| Thailand | $120 – $250 | 2–4 weeks | Bangkok and Phuket private hospitals. |
| India | $40 – $100 | 2–3 weeks | Lowest published; large private chains. |
| United Kingdom (private / visitor) | $350 – $600 | 4–8 weeks (NHS holiday dialysis is capacity-limited) | NHS provides holiday dialysis to UK residents; overseas visitors pay private rates. |
In-center hemodialysis, one session: typical 2026 range by country
What actually moves the number
Who is paying
US dialysis has a Medicare bundled rate, a Medicare Advantage rate, commercial in-network rates that can be several times Medicare, and out-of-network or cash rates at the top. A transient patient at a center that does not take their plan is at the top of the range.
Consumables and medications
Dialyzer, lines, dialysate, heparin. Bundled everywhere. Erythropoietin, iron and other IV medications may be extra; bring your own supply or confirm availability and price.
Labs
Monthly labs are part of chronic care; a transient unit may want a recent panel and a hepatitis B serology before your first session. Bring copies.
Records and prescription
The dialysis prescription (dialyzer, flow rates, duration, dry weight, anticoagulation) and recent labs must be sent ahead. Most units accept English records; Spanish translation speeds things in Latin America.
Location within a country
Capital-city units are cheaper and more numerous; resort and island units are scarcer and pricier. Plan the trip around the unit, not the other way round.
Insurance
Medicare's foreign exclusion is the big one. Some Medicare Advantage plans, employer plans and travel policies cover pre-arranged transient dialysis; a few specialist travel insurers underwrite dialysis patients specifically. Get the coverage confirmation in writing.
How a dialysis trip actually gets booked
Start with your home social worker or unit manager; they do this regularly. They will send your prescription, last three months of labs, hepatitis serology and a medical summary to the receiving unit, which confirms a chair schedule. In Colombia the large chains have international patient desks that handle this in English, and Medellín and Bogotá both have multiple units within a short taxi ride of the neighborhoods where visitors stay. Book the chair before the flight, not after. If your plan will not pay, the cash price abroad is what makes the trip possible: a two-week visit means six sessions, roughly $700–$1,500 in Colombia against $3,000–$9,000 at US out-of-network rates. healthcareabroad.co covers travel and expat insurance options for chronic conditions in detail.
Where Colombia sits, and how to read it
Colombia appears in the middle-to-low band on almost every row of this table, and for North American patients it carries a logistics advantage the cheaper Asian rows cannot match: three to five hours of direct flight from Miami, Houston, Atlanta, New York and Fort Lauderdale, and a same-or-adjacent time zone for follow-up calls. The World Health Organization ranked Colombia's health system #22 in the world and #1 in the Western Hemisphere in its 2000 World Health Report; that ranking is now a historical benchmark rather than a current league table, but it reflects a system that was built on universal coverage and a strong private hospital tier. Six Colombian hospitals hold Joint Commission International accreditation as of 2026 — accreditation is hospital-level, and it does not extend to freestanding clinics or to individual surgeons.
Two verification anchors matter more than any price. First, any Colombian physician can be checked in the national ReTHUS registry (rethus.gov.co), which confirms licensure and specialty. Second, the facility should be able to show its habilitación (operating license) for the specific service line. A low number from a facility that cannot produce either is not a bargain; it is an unpriced risk.
Colombia's dialysis infrastructure exists because its universal health system covers chronic kidney disease for its own population at scale. That is why the units are everywhere and why they are used to standardized record transfer. For a visitor, that translates into short lead times and cash prices that reflect the domestic cost structure rather than a tourist premium.
Sources and method
US ranges use Medicare ESRD bundled payment benchmarks, published commercial and out-of-network claims analyses and price-transparency cash-price fields for hemodialysis (CPT 90935/90937). International ranges use published dialysis-network price lists, transient-dialysis booking services and comparative price reports, cross-checked across at least two sources per cell. Method: where our numbers come from.
Frequently asked questions
How much does dialysis cost per session without insurance in the US?
Cash and out-of-network rates at US dialysis centers typically run $500–$1,500 per hemodialysis session in 2026. Medicare's bundled rate is much lower but applies only to enrolled patients at contracted centers.
Does Medicare cover dialysis abroad?
Generally no. Original Medicare does not pay for dialysis outside the US except in narrow circumstances. Some Medicare Advantage plans, employer plans and specialist travel policies cover pre-arranged transient dialysis; confirm in writing.
How do I arrange dialysis when traveling?
Ask your home unit's social worker or manager to send your dialysis prescription, recent labs and hepatitis serology to a receiving unit, which confirms a chair schedule. Allow two to four weeks, longer in peak season.
Can I travel with peritoneal dialysis?
Yes; PD patients travel with their own supplies, and manufacturers can ship ahead to most countries. Ask your PD nurse about delivery lead time and confirm the destination address can receive the shipment.
How much does dialysis cost in Colombia?
Typical 2026 cash pricing at Colombian dialysis units is roughly $120–$250 per in-center hemodialysis session, with a dense network in every major city. Typical ranges, not quotes.
Next step: turn this range into your number
This table tells you where transient dialysis sits worldwide. It does not tell you what you would pay. For a Colombia-specific estimate worksheet and a real written quote from an accredited facility, use the pair below.
Want the Colombia version of this number?
We are on the ground in Medellín. Tell us the procedure and we will point you to accredited hospitals and verified surgeons (checked against Colombia's ReTHUS registry) — no fixer markups, no obligation.