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Hi, We are moving to Costa Rica by the end of this year.
My question is as follows: once we leave, we will not have any medical insurance, we do plan on getting signed up with the INS and Caja – Can we sign up right away??: I am on quite a few medications and not sure if I can get them in C.R. – Diabetes, heart, blood pressure – what do people do to get drugs they need??? I am sure there are a lot of retired people on medication, I am 55 yrs old, not ready to retire – but will in C.R.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
You cannot join CAJA until you have obtained a temporary resident status (or at least least received a ‘folio number’ which may be accepted) such as [i]Pensionado[/i] or [i]Rentista[/i], so you will be required to pay for your medications and any hospital visits ‘out of pocket’.
INS does not cover all pre-existing conditions, and if they do cover your medical condition, they will charge a surcharge. You could purchase travel insurance.
CAJA usually supply generic medications but if this is not satisfactory, again you will need to purchase them from a local pharmacy.
For diabetics many meds, meters and testing strips are not covered by CAJA, and only 1 needle per day is providedHere is part of some information, recently posted.
[i]”Applicants for residency may now do so with out having to sign up immediately for the CAJA. This seems to have resolved the aforementioned problem of taking advantage of the system by folks who would say to CAJA that they were applying for residency, would join and use CAJA, but then would not follow thru by actually making application for residency, leaving the CAJA hanging for the expenses, so to speak.
Now, since Immigration and the CCSS have come to an agreement, you may apply for residency but by the time you go to your Immigration appointment to pick up your cédula you must have applied for the CAJA by showing the CAJA your granted resolution for residency. Then you bring your CAJA card and current receipt of payment to Immigration with you on the day of the appointment.”[/i]You would be better off to apply for residency while still in your home country, and move when you have actually been granted residency as this could take up to a year or even longer….[i]and you must leave Costa Rica to have your 90 day Tourist Visa renewed by the end of the 90 days.[/i]
[quote=”john brewer”] I am sure there are a lot of retired people on medication,
i know a lot of retired people here who are not on any meds, or who were taken off most of the meds that their US doctor was getting paid to prescribe. from the people i’ve talked to, including doctors, the practice here is a bit different. if the doctor suspects your health problems are related to your poor diet, lack of exercise, excessive drinking, smoking, whatever, he may send you to a nutritionist rather than load you up on meds. someone posted on another board and listed 8 different medications they were taking. some of the meds actually cause the problems that the other drugs were for. you’d do yourself a favor by having a good work-up done here, find yourself a doctor where you’re going to be living, and see if a change in lifestyle, eating an abundance of fruits and vegetables here, and the amount of walking people do in costa rica, can’t mediate some of the need for a lot of medications. most people who move here actually get healthier, and take less meds than they did in the States. the philosophy there is i can eat and drink whatever i want that will destroy my health and there is a pill that will fix me. my neighbor had all kinds of health issues and when he went to the doctor, the doctor told him to eat more fiber! et voila! all his complaints disappeared!
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