Costa Rica Targeting American Medical Tourists

With traditional tourism hit hard by the global recession, Costa Rica is seeking to draw foreign visitors by offering low-cost, high-quality healthcare, targeting people from the United States, where the same medical procedures can cost up to four times more.

Costa Rica has the advantage of proximity to the United States, good air connections between the two countries, political and social stability, and low crime rates.

Most sought-after here are eye surgery and dental treatment, followed by cosmetic surgery, orthopedic procedures, neurosurgery and gynecological care, according to government statistics. Foreign patients generally pay 30 to 60 percent less than what they would pay back home. But in some cases, such as coronary bypass surgery, costs in the United States are four times higher than in Costa Rica.

South Carolina retiree Ben Schriener, 62, recently had outpatient hernia surgery at Costa Rica's Hospital Clinica Biblica in San Jose. If he had had the surgery at home, the bill would have been $14,000, of which Schriener would have had to pay a $10,000 deductible. But his insurer, BlueCross BlueShield, teamed up with Companion Global Healthcare. The total bill: $3,900. Schriener's cost? Nothing.

Companion Global Healthcare is based in Columbia, South Carolina, and acts as an agency dedicated to offering medical tourism options to patients at a network of JCI accredited international medical facilities. The network includes two hospitals in San Jose, Hospital CIMA San Jose and Hospital Clínica Bíblica.
TreatmentAbroad.net