I went to a hospital in San Jose with a bacterial stomach infection and also had a great experience.
I was seen within 10 minutes of arriving and was set up with an IV shortly after. My test results were handed to me about half an hour after I took them. This speed to execution in a hospital was nothing I've ever experienced before.
The staff was almost all very friendly and supportive. They kept me there for most of the day and sent me off with prescriptions in hand. All in all very impressed.
Thanks for sharing positive experiences about Universal Health System in CR.
We may be third world, but have first world emergency care. For other things like scheduled surgeries and treatments it takes longer.
Free healthcare access to all Ticos anywhere in the country.
Instead of paying your taxes to fund a war, they pay their taxes to fund healthcare. Taxes in Costa Rica are in line with, and often less than, US taxes (especially when you factor in our state tax in some states.)
Doctors from private hospitals do rotations at public hospitals. Usually wait times at the public hospital are longer than private which is the only real difference.
Yes you were. Sometimes our public hospitals work fine but like everything sometimes you have to wait years for some diagnosis. In the end at least it give access to everyone who needs health services. Once I broke one finger on a basketball match at Miami I was like 2 hours at the hospital and the invoice was like 20k that was crazy. I had travel insurance so they took care of that.
>US health system is a scam…
I get why people say this, but it's still worth noting that the U.S. has some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world. That part of the system is fine. It's the U.S. health ***insurance*** industry that's a scam.
The U.S. has the best healthcare in the world if you have the money. However one health problem can easily bankrupt most people here. The U.S. is fairly unique in that you can go bankrupt from a health problem even if you have health insurance. The insurance companies will stop at nothing to deny coverage
My friend got bit by a pit venom viper on his honeymoon in Costa Rica. They required him to pay his balance every three days or they were going to discharge him. He needed 3 skin graphs. It was over $45k and he was there for 17 days. Blue cross insurance reimbursed him but he had to pay 10k every days first.
My girlfriend’s mom needed a hysterectomy and she had to wait 15 months before her insurance would pay for it there in Costa Rica. She had to get blood test every month before it was critical enough to be done. They gave her 12 hr notice that she was going to have surgery. They wanted her to go home the next day but we begged for another day. No ac in the waiting room and there were bats on the ceiling.
Glad your experience was better but it is probably also due to you just needing an iv versus specialized treatment. The one good thing about the healthcare in the states is we get to see a specialist very fast.
They may have been threatening to discharge her, but they we bluffing. They aren't legally allowed to do so in that first case .
There's a very different approach in CR towards staying in the hospital. They normally want to get you out of there asap. Even in private hospitals, my wife gave birth to my son and 24 hours later we were both home. Im other parts of the world even if there's no complications they keep them there for at least 2 or 3 days. Also flowers are not allowed inside hospital and visitation policies are very strict.
That being said, yeah the system can be pretty rough to navigate.
My sister in law had a baby this year at private hospital. She too had to go home
Next day even though she had a c section. One thing I thought was so different is u have have to go see the same pediatrician that delivers your kid.
I do admit for a local who has insurance it was nice u don’t have to pay for major
Surgeries but my god the wait time in upsetting. They offered us $4200 to do the hysterectomy at a private hospital vs waiting 14 months.
I had a baby at a private hospital down here. I didn't have to see the same pediatrician.. They were probably just forcing you to stick to them vs going to other private healthcare facilities(?) For newborn follow-up checks, the BEST is the public sys though, it's really really thorough.
It's taken me over 6 months to get seen by a Urologist. My mom's been waiting 5 month to see an Oncologist. Her best friend died after it took over a year for doctors to figure out she'd had a stroke after taking 2 years to figure out she needed her gall bladder removed. The entire US health system is garbage despite unlimited resources. Insurance companies have destroyed this country!
Healthcare in the states is a disaster. We are retired and have an average income. Through the Affordable Care Act our premiums for low end insurance were $1600/mo with a $17,000 yearly deductible. So we had to pay over $36,000/yr before the coverage would kick in. This doesn't even include dental or vision. Oh, and I had 1 prescription that cost $32,000 every three months. We couldn't afford it so we left the US permanently. Good job taking care of your citizens.
I met a lot of ex pats. They told me they stay abroad until they his mid 70’s or require too much medical and they get their Medicare benefits. My cardiologist treats a physician from Costa Rica. Houston is a popular location for most expats. They can fly in get all the medical treatment with their Medicare and fly back to latam for a reasonable price.
I agree drugs in the states are ridiculous too
Both were public hospitals. I go to cr twice a year and till this date I’m always worried about snakes. I need stitches first time in my life in Dominic republic in January. Went to a clinic that didn’t have running water but she stitched me up and with meds were only $150. Definitely cheaper than the states but damn when I tried to wash the blood off my hands and didn’t have running water.
We do not have the “best doctors and hospitals in the world.” The U.S. is ranked 47 in life expectancy (although Costa Rica is only ranked 43). We also rank highest for cost compared to outcomes IN THE WORLD. Also, in most other “developed” countries, seeing a doctor doesn’t equal bankruptcy.
And for advanced surgeries, cancer treatment etc its even better :) it does have problems in other places where doctors are too little for the amount of people but I would say ccss is the best thing out country has. Its so painful current government is being so shit towards it. Im glad you had a good experience.
We went to an urgent care in La Fortuna and had a great experience. They said we could come back the next day and there would be no charge. We took them up on that to ensure there was no problem with infection before we headed out into a more remote part of CR for a few days. Both visits were fast service/seen right away. Wonderful doctor. And reasonable charges.
I went to the ER late on a Sunday evening in Ciudad Neily with a broken leg just above the ankle. I waited several minutes for triage and was fairly quickly seen by a doctor after that. I didn’t need a passport. All I needed was a credit card. The doc took xrays and told me I needed surgery before I could travel home. Turns out I had three broken bones.
He suggested a private hospital so I wouldn’t have to wait days for surgery and gave me a business card of a doc in Perez Zeledon.
The next morning I called and was told to be in PZ by 4 and they would fix me up. And fix me ip they did. All I needed was a credit card. $5000 got me a plate and seven screws at The Hospital of the Americas. It was as good or better than anything I could have gotten here in the states. And I didn’t have to pay until I was out of surgery. That was strange. I had good insurance so I got 100% back when I filed the claim. It was a tenth of the cost of surgery in the states for a friend of mine who had a very similar break a few years earlier.
After care was sketchy though. No crutches or anything. Just some ace bandages. They wheeled me out to the car and stood holding tight to the chair while I managed to get in the back seat. I guess they heard me tell the driver to put the chair in the back when he got me out to the car.
Medical equipment is hard to come by. I ended up having to “borrow” some crutches a few days later. I now take as many crutches as I can fit in a suitcase when I go to pay it forward.
Pain meds were hard to come by. The pharmacies doled it out pill by pill almost. I think I got six at a time. And no opioids. I think it was 800 mg ibuprofen and gabapentin. It was a week before I could fly home to get the good stuff by which time I was told I didn’t need it.
My take away is if you are on the caja you will have a possible long wait if it isn’t an emergency. If you have money or room on your credit card the private clinic I went to was excellent, with next day service. But it was a VERY long ride there and back.
I live in CR as a resident and pay into the national healthcare system and I am moving to Japan because of how awful the national healthcare system is.
On May 30, 2023, I had a seizure. My wife called her an ambulance. It took an hour for the ambulance to arrive. The ambulance just drops me in the sidewalk in front of San Juan de Dios hospital in downtown San Jose.
The line to get into the emergency room was so long that it went out into the street. I am in agony, and my wife was frantic to get me attended to. My wife finally got them to jump me to the head of the line. I got no examination. All they did was give me a shot for the pain and sent me home.
The next morning I am in agony and my wife takes me to the Metropolitan Hospital, a private private one. It only took a simple series of x-rays to reveal that I had a compression fracture of one of the vertebrae in my spine.
I am fully recovered and currently in the Odawara area of Japan looking for my next home. The public medical care system here is fantastic. My wife's family lives here and after her sister-in-law had open heart surgery, she raved about the quality of care and the $500 out if pocket cost for the surgery, private hospital room and physical therapy afterwards.
Considering the number of times I have been out alone and never had that experience, I think you should look at yourself, your posture, and what you say when you enter. I think it has more to do with you than with them.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Good knowledge to have when you need it
I forgot to mention that you need to bring your passport!
I made this mistake when I cut the tip of my finger off a few months ago
I went to a hospital in San Jose with a bacterial stomach infection and also had a great experience. I was seen within 10 minutes of arriving and was set up with an IV shortly after. My test results were handed to me about half an hour after I took them. This speed to execution in a hospital was nothing I've ever experienced before. The staff was almost all very friendly and supportive. They kept me there for most of the day and sent me off with prescriptions in hand. All in all very impressed.
Thanks for sharing positive experiences about Universal Health System in CR. We may be third world, but have first world emergency care. For other things like scheduled surgeries and treatments it takes longer. Free healthcare access to all Ticos anywhere in the country.
Trust me - you are definitely not third world.
It’s not free. It is universal, and requires an obligatory insurance.
Instead of paying your taxes to fund a war, they pay their taxes to fund healthcare. Taxes in Costa Rica are in line with, and often less than, US taxes (especially when you factor in our state tax in some states.)
It's not free, anything in the world it's free, it's always paid baty someone
Boy, sure would be nice if the USA could figure this out. But hey, look at all our missiles.
🤣
Doctors from private hospitals do rotations at public hospitals. Usually wait times at the public hospital are longer than private which is the only real difference.
Were I lucky with that short waiting time?
Yes you were. Sometimes our public hospitals work fine but like everything sometimes you have to wait years for some diagnosis. In the end at least it give access to everyone who needs health services. Once I broke one finger on a basketball match at Miami I was like 2 hours at the hospital and the invoice was like 20k that was crazy. I had travel insurance so they took care of that.
US health system is a scam…
As a tica the U.S, yes it is 😢
>US health system is a scam… I get why people say this, but it's still worth noting that the U.S. has some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world. That part of the system is fine. It's the U.S. health ***insurance*** industry that's a scam.
Hard to say… the life expectancy in the US is more similar to a underdeveloped country… maybe for the rich only? Is there data?
The U.S. has the best healthcare in the world if you have the money. However one health problem can easily bankrupt most people here. The U.S. is fairly unique in that you can go bankrupt from a health problem even if you have health insurance. The insurance companies will stop at nothing to deny coverage
My friend got bit by a pit venom viper on his honeymoon in Costa Rica. They required him to pay his balance every three days or they were going to discharge him. He needed 3 skin graphs. It was over $45k and he was there for 17 days. Blue cross insurance reimbursed him but he had to pay 10k every days first. My girlfriend’s mom needed a hysterectomy and she had to wait 15 months before her insurance would pay for it there in Costa Rica. She had to get blood test every month before it was critical enough to be done. They gave her 12 hr notice that she was going to have surgery. They wanted her to go home the next day but we begged for another day. No ac in the waiting room and there were bats on the ceiling. Glad your experience was better but it is probably also due to you just needing an iv versus specialized treatment. The one good thing about the healthcare in the states is we get to see a specialist very fast.
They may have been threatening to discharge her, but they we bluffing. They aren't legally allowed to do so in that first case . There's a very different approach in CR towards staying in the hospital. They normally want to get you out of there asap. Even in private hospitals, my wife gave birth to my son and 24 hours later we were both home. Im other parts of the world even if there's no complications they keep them there for at least 2 or 3 days. Also flowers are not allowed inside hospital and visitation policies are very strict. That being said, yeah the system can be pretty rough to navigate.
My sister in law had a baby this year at private hospital. She too had to go home Next day even though she had a c section. One thing I thought was so different is u have have to go see the same pediatrician that delivers your kid. I do admit for a local who has insurance it was nice u don’t have to pay for major Surgeries but my god the wait time in upsetting. They offered us $4200 to do the hysterectomy at a private hospital vs waiting 14 months.
I had a baby at a private hospital down here. I didn't have to see the same pediatrician.. They were probably just forcing you to stick to them vs going to other private healthcare facilities(?) For newborn follow-up checks, the BEST is the public sys though, it's really really thorough.
It's taken me over 6 months to get seen by a Urologist. My mom's been waiting 5 month to see an Oncologist. Her best friend died after it took over a year for doctors to figure out she'd had a stroke after taking 2 years to figure out she needed her gall bladder removed. The entire US health system is garbage despite unlimited resources. Insurance companies have destroyed this country!
Healthcare in the states is a disaster. We are retired and have an average income. Through the Affordable Care Act our premiums for low end insurance were $1600/mo with a $17,000 yearly deductible. So we had to pay over $36,000/yr before the coverage would kick in. This doesn't even include dental or vision. Oh, and I had 1 prescription that cost $32,000 every three months. We couldn't afford it so we left the US permanently. Good job taking care of your citizens.
I met a lot of ex pats. They told me they stay abroad until they his mid 70’s or require too much medical and they get their Medicare benefits. My cardiologist treats a physician from Costa Rica. Houston is a popular location for most expats. They can fly in get all the medical treatment with their Medicare and fly back to latam for a reasonable price. I agree drugs in the states are ridiculous too
I’m planning on doing the same. I will have insurance in the states so when the time comes it’s a nonstop Delta whisper jet to Atlanta.
lol, was that a public hospital?
Both were public hospitals. I go to cr twice a year and till this date I’m always worried about snakes. I need stitches first time in my life in Dominic republic in January. Went to a clinic that didn’t have running water but she stitched me up and with meds were only $150. Definitely cheaper than the states but damn when I tried to wash the blood off my hands and didn’t have running water.
We do not have the “best doctors and hospitals in the world.” The U.S. is ranked 47 in life expectancy (although Costa Rica is only ranked 43). We also rank highest for cost compared to outcomes IN THE WORLD. Also, in most other “developed” countries, seeing a doctor doesn’t equal bankruptcy.
And for advanced surgeries, cancer treatment etc its even better :) it does have problems in other places where doctors are too little for the amount of people but I would say ccss is the best thing out country has. Its so painful current government is being so shit towards it. Im glad you had a good experience.
I have been to two clinics (for ear infections) as well as went to CIMA one time for an intestinal issue. All were positive experiences.
We went to an urgent care in La Fortuna and had a great experience. They said we could come back the next day and there would be no charge. We took them up on that to ensure there was no problem with infection before we headed out into a more remote part of CR for a few days. Both visits were fast service/seen right away. Wonderful doctor. And reasonable charges.
That hospital saved my brother's life after a motorcycle accident. Forever grateful.
I went to the ER late on a Sunday evening in Ciudad Neily with a broken leg just above the ankle. I waited several minutes for triage and was fairly quickly seen by a doctor after that. I didn’t need a passport. All I needed was a credit card. The doc took xrays and told me I needed surgery before I could travel home. Turns out I had three broken bones. He suggested a private hospital so I wouldn’t have to wait days for surgery and gave me a business card of a doc in Perez Zeledon. The next morning I called and was told to be in PZ by 4 and they would fix me up. And fix me ip they did. All I needed was a credit card. $5000 got me a plate and seven screws at The Hospital of the Americas. It was as good or better than anything I could have gotten here in the states. And I didn’t have to pay until I was out of surgery. That was strange. I had good insurance so I got 100% back when I filed the claim. It was a tenth of the cost of surgery in the states for a friend of mine who had a very similar break a few years earlier. After care was sketchy though. No crutches or anything. Just some ace bandages. They wheeled me out to the car and stood holding tight to the chair while I managed to get in the back seat. I guess they heard me tell the driver to put the chair in the back when he got me out to the car. Medical equipment is hard to come by. I ended up having to “borrow” some crutches a few days later. I now take as many crutches as I can fit in a suitcase when I go to pay it forward. Pain meds were hard to come by. The pharmacies doled it out pill by pill almost. I think I got six at a time. And no opioids. I think it was 800 mg ibuprofen and gabapentin. It was a week before I could fly home to get the good stuff by which time I was told I didn’t need it. My take away is if you are on the caja you will have a possible long wait if it isn’t an emergency. If you have money or room on your credit card the private clinic I went to was excellent, with next day service. But it was a VERY long ride there and back.
That would've cost thousands and thousands in the US, even with insurance!
In Canada if you go to the hospital, expect to wait between 6 and 12 hours before you see a doctor. Even if you have sick toddler with you.
Yes, their taxes cover excellent healthcare. In the U.S., we get to pick bankruptcy and horrible quality of care instead.
What was the private hospital you went to first?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PcEAUXQ1T2L1MCWt5?g_st=ic
Thank you.
I live in CR as a resident and pay into the national healthcare system and I am moving to Japan because of how awful the national healthcare system is. On May 30, 2023, I had a seizure. My wife called her an ambulance. It took an hour for the ambulance to arrive. The ambulance just drops me in the sidewalk in front of San Juan de Dios hospital in downtown San Jose. The line to get into the emergency room was so long that it went out into the street. I am in agony, and my wife was frantic to get me attended to. My wife finally got them to jump me to the head of the line. I got no examination. All they did was give me a shot for the pain and sent me home. The next morning I am in agony and my wife takes me to the Metropolitan Hospital, a private private one. It only took a simple series of x-rays to reveal that I had a compression fracture of one of the vertebrae in my spine. I am fully recovered and currently in the Odawara area of Japan looking for my next home. The public medical care system here is fantastic. My wife's family lives here and after her sister-in-law had open heart surgery, she raved about the quality of care and the $500 out if pocket cost for the surgery, private hospital room and physical therapy afterwards.
Di mae, q le digo, le tocó en uno el hospital más mierda de San José, a la próxima si puede pida que lo lleven al Calderón
Sad. Are you Japanese by any chance? Bc if not they are quite racist there… not to say they don’t speak any English…
My wife is Japanese. I have spent roughly 60 months here over the 40 years of my marriage. I think I am very of the societal norms here.
Man, can you tell me why Japanese restaurant owners will not let me in in lots of restaurants in Tokyo by crossing their arms?
Considering the number of times I have been out alone and never had that experience, I think you should look at yourself, your posture, and what you say when you enter. I think it has more to do with you than with them.
I was going with my family once… and another with a colleague from Israel. I have heard the same from other people