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American Medical Tourists
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Costa Rica
Targeting American Medical Tourists
TreatmentAbroad.net
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, orthopaedic procedures,
neurosurgery and gynaecological 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
José. 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 José and Hospital
Clínica Bíblica.
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