Richard found out the hard way that drugs for treatment of cancer – any type of cancer such as breast cancer, colon cancer, kidney or stomach cancer, or fast-acting cancers like stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer and brain cancer were so expensive that many people couldn’t even come close to affording them, even with health insurance.

His health insurance plan, like many others, had a $1 million lifetime maximum on payouts. That sounded like a lot to him before he found out that cancer treatments would likely cost him for than $300,000 a year. Drug companies were making survival difficult.

Three common cancer drugs; Herceptin, Avastin and Zometa, can run over $20,000 in prescription costs – per month. In the U.S., average monthly costs for Herceptin is about $3,000 a month, while Avastin costs an average of $4,400 a month.

What’s a person like Richard to do? Well, for one, he ‘voiced’ his dissatisfaction with his feet and traveled to India for his cancer therapy. Even with the cost of travel, he saved over $1,000 a month. In India, costs averaged about $1,200 per month. In Thailand, monthly cancer treatment drug costs averaged $1,000 a month, and in locations around the world, such as Jordan and Latin America, he now knows he can save between 50% and 70% on cancer drug therapy costs.

Newly marketable cancer therapy drugs like Vemurafenib have shown the ability to save hundreds of melanoma cancer patients, with an 84% success rate. The FDA has approved the drug. The problem is that it will cost patients nearly $50,000 a year.

Explore your options regarding cancer therapy abroad, just as Richard did. He got the same drug, excellent care and saved tens of thousands of dollars to boot.