Costa Rica has become the first choice for Americans, Canadians and Europeans seeking quality and affordable medical treatment, or what is known as medical tourism and wellness.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica. According to Mark Sydney of Americana WellcareCR, between 150,000 and 200,000 foreigners could be traveling to Costa Rica in 2011 for medical procedures.
It’s hard to give an exact figure, but based on statistics from the middle of this decade (150,000 in 2006), Costa Rica might expect almost 200,000 medical tourists this year, said Sydney, whose company, Americana WellcareCR based in San José, Costa Rica, brings people there for medical treatment.
What draws most medical tourists to Costa Rica is the low cost of medical procedures compared to their countries; the high quality of medical personnel and medical services; and the speed at which the required medical treatment can be obtained.
Cosmetic surgery and dental treatment, not necessarily in that order, are still the most popular treatment here, says Sydney. But more and more people are coming to Costa Rica for orthopedic and bariatric surgery because of the cost and the benefits of some of the best recovery centers in the world, where a patient’s post-op recovery is monitored 24/7 in an eco environment with trained professionals. Read more... (600 words, 2 images, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)
INS tells their Insurance brokers there would be “consequences” if they sold any other company’s products.
Every Costa Rican knows [since they can remember] the government monopoly of, oil/gas, electric, internet, and insurance has been one big headache after another. In Oct, 2007 when Costa Rica’s Free Trade Agreements (FTA) were signed, it looked like for the first time Costa Rican’s were going to get a break, when foreign companies could compete with government companies, especially for insurance. Ticos, for the first time would be able to pick a company based on service, care, quality, and cost.
Over a year later it looked like FTA was not working, then Canada’s American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) and a few others had received approval to sell in Costa Rica.
But has it happened? Well not quite as expected.
One of the first signs it was under undergoing, “Rules of Engagement” was with the new requirements for foreign residents (expats or permanent residents), who had to show proof of medical insurance to the government Caja, Costarricense de Seguro Social, which forced Expats scrambling for coverage from Instituto Nacional de Seguros, (INS), and/or Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, (CCSS), which is government’s socialized medicine. Very few got coverage from foreign companies. Read more... (633 words, 1 image, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)
Costa Rica workers pick coffee and get paid by the basket as little as $.60
Every time I come back from Costa Rica, my main import is coffee. I literally cram my bag with as much as I can without going over the weight limit. In fact, several years ago I got clipped with excessive baggage and had to pay extra. However, this last trip was a bit different, in fact, I wished I had kept quite, I must have gotten 15 emails before I left on, “Yeah can you bring me back some coffee.”
Okay, I admit, I’m a Costa Rica coffee junkie and I have turned on God-knows how many on the rich-tasting roasted bean. Costa Rican coffee is high in both quality and caffeine content and because of that; it is often blended with inferior varieties for commercial use. And even if I like all the commercial brands like Cafe Milagro and Britt, I really prefer the tiny low-volume farm-specific coffee producers who now keep their lots separate, and either sells just the beans and/or mills it themselves where they keep total control of the process with the best possible flavors and the best prices. One can buy a kilo (2.2lbs) of coffee between 2-$4. Read more... (416 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)
Construction jobs normally held by Costa Ricans are being replaced by Nicaraguans
Contrary to belief, Costa Rica is no longer a Third World country. Its advancement in technology growth (4th in the world for micro chip processors), high literary rate (over 90%), standard of living, health, education (all three highest in all of the Latin Americans) is just a few modern identities that have jumped them into bordering a first and second world country. Unfortunately, with development (growing pains) comes it problems and one of them is the increasing traffic of immigrants, particular Nicaraguans. And with the world-wide economy at destructive levels, this is reality that may effect Costa Rica’s overall growth.
Like the US with its legal and illegal Mexicans, Costa Rica is following in the US footsteps with Nicaragua who are increasingly being accused of taking lots and lots of jobs from Costa Ricans. Back in Dec, 2008, Costa Rican police arrested a man allegedly trying to bring 40 Nicaraguans to work illegally in sugar cane fields in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. And this is just the start, Police arrest smugglers, smuggling human cargo almost everyday now, not counting how many they send back going through immigration trying to get in legally. Read more... (543 words, 2 images, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)
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