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No matter what Congress does with health care legislation in the next few weeks, one thing is already clear: the result will not do much to control the climbing costs of medical care in the United States.

And that is why many employers and insurance companies may seek savings by encouraging patients to travel abroad for treatment.

Offshore medical care is usually significantly less expensive than in the United States, and the wait times are often shorter. A heart operation that might cost $130,000 in this country could cost $18,500 in Singapore or $10,000 in India.

Estimates of the number of Americans traveling abroad for treatment — “medical tourism,” some call it — vary widely, from 75,000 to 750,000 last year. But many experts consider it a growth industry.

Paul H. Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, forecasts an annual growth rate for medical tourism of 35 percent starting next year, which could reach 1.6 million patients by 2012.

“This is driven by the reality of health care costs, increased premiums and the mobility of the work force,” Mr. Keckley said, “and it’s becoming more understood and accepted. There’s nothing in the current health reform bills that decelerates the cost of care, so that contributes to the appetite that people have.”

For years, most of those who sought treatment overseas had no insurance. But today, medical tourists include people with insurance who are trying to avoid an increase in their premiums, as well as those who want procedures not available in the United States.

And while they typically have traveled for dental care or cosmetic surgery, medical tourists now go abroad for procedures as diverse as heart surgery, surrogate pregnancy and knee and hip replacements.

Travel Agents

Offshore providers are trying to enhance their reputations by working with reputable American medical centers. But the biggest spur to medical travel may be the active encouragement of the medical tourism industry — the overseas providers, as well as domestic brokers who arrange all of a patient’s treatment and travel.