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By the Medical Vacation in CR staff
Costa
Rica is becoming the mecca for North Americans and others who need
reasonable health care. The president of Costa Rica has put out the
welcome map for foreigners
who want to come here to take advantage of the lower-cost medical care.
The president, Nobel-Peace Prize winner Óscar Arias
Sánchez, issued a formal decree to assist those local clinics,
medical professionals and the foreigners who wish to come here.
Among other actions, the president said the country would promote
international accreditation of hospitals and clinics which specialize
in foreign patients. Already Costa Rica has hospitals that are highly
respected. One even is associated with Southern Methodist University.
Accreditation will give visitors a guarantee that highly trained
professionals from elsewhere have studied the education, facilities,
practices and philosophies of those organizations offering health care.
Arias already has told the educational ministry to make sure high
school graduates are functional in English within a few years. That
goes double for the health professions, because many physicians,
dentists and nurses have studied in the United States, Canada and Great
Britain.
Arias also said that his government would work with foreign insurance
providers to make certain that medical care here will be covered
by companies in the home country.
In 2007 some 8,500 foreigners, mostly U.S. citizens, came to Costa Rica
for health care. Costa Rica has a dynamic system covering most of its
citizens, and many practitioners share their time between private and
public hospitals and clinics. So they have the advantages of both.
Why is health care so reasonable here? A lot has to do with the
bureaucracy of the U.S. system. Some sources estimated that fully 40
percent of the money spent on medical care in the United states goes to
administration. Costa Rica is a country that is not known for its
high insurance rates on medical professional. Plus the overall cost of
living is much lower.
Costa Rica is convenient and just a few hours by air from most of the
United states. And as a recovery spot nothing can beat the great
climate, the great service and the many possibilities a medical
vacationer can find in Costa Rica.
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Professional eye care
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