The medical care industry in Costa Rica is exploding.
For foreigners.
Though it is one of the tiniest countries on earth,Costa Rica medical tourism is so popular the country is one of the top 5 medical and dental tourist destinations.
No wonder.
The price of employer-sponsored health care insurance in the US rocketed in 2011, exceeding $15,000 yearly for family coverage.
The costs of health care coverage for single employees jumped 8% from the year before.
We are not talking about $15,000 for the cost of medical treatment or hospitalizations for a family of 4; that is the price for the insurance premium!
And, that’s the cost for folks lucky enough to have employer-sponsored insurance. For everybody else—tens of millions of people—costs are out-of-pocket.
Nearly 15% of international tourists visiting this tropical paradise take advantage of its medical services, generally for dental care and plastic surgery. San Jose, Costa Rica’s capitol, and its surrounding area are home to hundreds of board-certified doctors, surgeons and dentists.
That’s a staggering 36,000 folks a year.
To understand why so many Americans and others take a medical or dental holiday in Costa Rica, consider this. Major dental work involving complex procedures is often done for an average of 60% less than in the States. For example, a California woman who was quoted $6,600 for extensive dental work received the same care for $2,600 in Costa Rica. Her dentist was a U.S.-trained oral surgeon with state-of-the-art equipment and materials.
Cosmetic surgery is the largest medical tourism draw in Costa Rica as facelifts, breast enhancements, and other procedures are frequently performed for less than half what you’d pay in a similar facility in the States.
And, to make life even simpler, some medical or dental suppliers include the price of flight ticket and hotel into their quotes!
There are a few reasons that expat or visitor medical care in Costa Rica is rapidly increasing more than 15% a year.
One big reason, surely, is the large number of uninsured US citizens. Then, there’s the seemingly unending rise in medical care costs.
However, there’s more. Costa Rica has made medical tourism a national imperative and now boasts a number of world class hospitals the equal of the finest in America and Europe.
And, don’t foget, there’s the added bonus of tacking on a marvelous tropical vacation.
Whether you would like to combine a great vacation with medical or dental treatment, or just sit on the beach or take in its adult nightlife, Costa Rica vacations have something valuable to offer everybody.
And, if you’d like to discover more about some of its internationally accredited hospitals and clinics, take a minute to visit our page on medical care in Costa Rica.