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First, is it true that INS health insurance does not cover preexisting conditions and in order to be covered under Caja you must be a resident? If this is the case, what temporary international insurance works in Costa Rica and will cover preexisting medical conditions? Anybody have any suggestions?
Ripple:
If you refer to ‘Medical Insurance in Costa Rica’ from Feb. 23, many of your questions and concerns will be answered.Harvey
I’ve recently heard of a Health Insurance Policy that will cover you in the USA and also in Costa Rica.
Some friends of mine have it and are living in San Louis,near Grecia, and say they have used it in the USA with no problems.
I’m sorry that I do not have any more details but if interested in this I can get you more info like the name etc.
I’m not selling this and am in no way connected to this company, don’t even have it myself, but just looking for the moment.
PhilThere are international health insurance companies whose coverage is . . . international. The problems are that they tend to exclude preexisiting conditions, they are expensive, the coverage may not be broad, and they can drop you upon the submission of the first substantial claim. We looked all over and couldn’t find one that meets our needs.
Of the private insurance choices, the ones offered by INS seem to be the best.
Thanks for the info everyone. I would hate to have to pay US insurance premiums to keep coverage on pre existing conditions but do US health insurance policies cover care in CR? Does anyone have any information on whether any temporary policies will cover pre existing conditions? I only need coverage until my residency goes through and I can get Caja coverage.
What’s the timeline on your residency status? If it’s only a few months until it comes through, maybe you could just set aside X amount of dollars to pay for medical bills during that time. Medical care is so reasonable in Costa Rica that unless you got some catastrophic illness, you could probably well afford to pay out of pocket until you got into the Caja. Even IF you got something awful, the costs are still a fraction of what they are in the States. As an example, a friend of mine had several surgeries and radiation for cancer and his total out of pocket bill was $12,000. Offhand, I don’t know of any insurance carriers in the US who would cover you in Costa Rica, although someone once mentioned that Blue Cross had some clause that would cover emergency treatments of great magnitude — as in getting hit by a bus or runover by the truck.
Some Blue Cross plans do cover outside the U.S. Others will cover U.S. residents for emergencies which occur while traveling outside the U.S. Other private insurers are free to set whatever terms they wish.
An alternative (which we’ve recently opted for) would be to take an INS policy with whatever exclusions and surcharges they impose until your residency is approved and you can enroll in the CAJA system. More expensive? Yes, but at least you’d be covered.
Maravilla is correct that you could set aside enough to cover routine care, but you probably could not set aside enough to cover an unforseen catastrophe. On the other hand, if you maintain your U.S.-based policy, at least for a while, you would have the option of returning to the U.S. for, say, your radiation and chemotherapy.
By the way, I’ve recently read that the State of West Virginia is considering offering the option of offshore medical care to its employees.
I just got back from CR and there was a commercial on advertising that the Caja would be offering a additional policy which would allow you to get care from a doctor of your choice. Not sure of the details but would like any information on this from any of you that are down there. Thanks for all of your comments and input. After speaking with many folks during my trip in search of more information I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the regular Caja insurance for extreme emergencies should be sufficient and paying out of pocket for regular visits. The INS policy did not seem to do much for us since they will not cover preexisting conditions. Also as Maravilla correctly points out the price of care is not as bad as what I had originally thought. I talked to several people who went to CIMA or other private hospitals and paid very low price for significant injuries requiring hospitalization for more than a week. The problem for us is that it appears that residency is being held up a long time right now due to the govt not knowing what they are going to do with new laws ect. Knowing Costa Rica it is no telling how long they will take to sort out that mess. If anyone has info on the new Caja plan they are advertising, please let me know.
[quote=”Ripple33″]Thanks for the info everyone. I would hate to have to pay US insurance premiums to keep coverage on pre existing conditions but do US health insurance policies cover care in CR? Does anyone have any information on whether any temporary policies will cover pre existing conditions? I only need coverage until my residency goes through and I can get Caja coverage.
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Were you able to find an insurance company that will cover pre-existing conditions until the CR residency go thru?
Can’t seem to find any info……INS will cover some pre-existing conditions but they typically surcharge heavily. Other pre-existing conditions are excluded. We had INS coverage for a couple of years but found their reimbursement rates so low as to make it not worth the premium cost.
Some U.S. commercial health insurance policies will cover care in Costa Rica. For example, most Michigan Blue Cross/Blue Shield policies will cover care for “emergencies and unforeseen conditions”. Sadly, ours isn’t one of them.
Medicare and Medicaid will not pay for any services rendered outside the U.S.
Lately, I’ve heard that the CAJA will accept non-residents for enrollment. This would be something to check out. I think ARCR could help.
That’s really interesting, John. I was aware that the CAJA would treat emergencies for non-members, but even when I got emergency care for my injured knee at the CAJA hospital in Grecia a couple of years ago, they were quite adamant about being paid right then and there. And they don’t accept plastic.
Fortunately, Marcia had the c70,000 to pay for the emergency doc, the x-rays, the orthopedist and the full-leg cast.
Before we received our residency and was eligible to use CAJA, in both Turrialba and here in Guanacaste, the [i]’local health nurse'[/i] on his motorbike, stopped by to perform blood pressure checks and test for diabetes.
So far, it looks as though both of our individual Blue Cross policies are going to cover our healthcare in Costa Rica and NOT just for emergency treatment. Re-payment is at a lower rate and we will have to use Costa Rican doctors that are covered by our plans AND we will be reimbursed by Blue Cross after we have paid the bills out of pocket.
I am right in the middle of getting this figured out and will post later when I have all the facts. We are in Arizona but moving to Costa Rica in July. My husband has a pre-existing condition, I do not.
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