www.CostaRicaTicas.com

A group of 20 French tourists tested positive for COVID-29 8 days after entering CR, 6 are hospitalized. All this happened 16 days ago and is just today being reported in the media. How's that for transparency. I wonder how that might impact insurance rates.

https://qcostarica.com/20-french-touris ... pitalized/

For you math whizzes out there, that is a 30% hospitalization rate.

A little additional detail, the testing was done on January 24 which is also the day France began requiring a negative Covid test to enter.
https://www.connexionfrance.com/French- ... e-and-boat

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

Since I am a math wiz, I will weigh in on this one.

I wouldn't worry about insurance rates. There are two key words in this article, "group" and "French", which really implies "related group" of people.

To estimate the population proportion for hospitalization we would need a random sample of 385 to 664 persons who tested positive, assuming a 5 percent margin of error and confidence interval between 95 and 99 percent respectively.

The problem is this group of related persons are neither independent or random sample. They likely contain outliers or are part of a skewed demographic associated with package tours.

Also, it is more more relevant for insurers to estimate the hospitalization proportion for the total population of insured. They would want to know what proportion of premium buyers from the total population of premium buyers are going to result in a loss.

I think the big lesson here is the risk to groups and couples. When you travel in a "pod" you are not being socially distant with the other members of the pod. So, the members of the group have a higher risk. Any one member of the pod has the cumulative exposure of all the other members of the pod. In this case the cumulative exposure of 20 people, traveling around the country could be much higher than one dude in town for a weekend bender.

Mathematically the way to evaluate the risk for groups is through Analysis of Variance or ANOVA. A test for means is much better because we can talk about financial magnitude, dollar amounts. Also ANOVA lets us compare the categories of insured to the entire population of insured.

For example, what is the average dollar amount of loss generated by different categories of people within the population. It's likely that the private insurance companies will conduct these types of statistical analysis using ANOVA or similar methods. Expect insurance rates for groups and package tours to go up within the private market.

Tourism in general will be problematic in Costa Rica for while. I expect because "group" tourism and packages are important for the profitability of the industry. It's difficult to get individuals together and share the fixed costs of tours, transfers and hotels.

Our kind of tourism, guy coming down for a week of fun in San Jose or Jaco is may be less risky than 3 families of 4 getting together for meals, bus rides and visits to the cloud forest. Seems a bit ironic.

Cruzing and boozing is safer than good family fun. Immanuel Kant would give us less bad points. Maybe an episode of the Good Place?

Wow Ulysses, a great analysis.
However I do need a beer after reading it.

And some pate de fois gras.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

As for your two "keywords", nobody can argue that their being French was key, those wimpy frogs.

The next few weeks will be informative and there is much still unknown from the article. Certainly a small population sample doesn't define a trend.

1. What was the reason the group was tested? It is interesting the tests were performed the very day (24-Jan) that the negative test result became mandatory to enter France. But not for the test, the group might have returned and fallen ill there. Now they are being detected and retained for treatment here. The US mandate began 26-Jan, so "watch this space". It is kind of interesting this all came to light 16 days after the test.

2. There are 6 current hospitalizations out of 20 that tested positive. Again, this is 16 days after they tested positive. When were they admitted? At the time of the test or during their quarantine? Was there something about the group (age, co-morbidity, etc) that accounts for the 30% hospitalization rate? Since the quarantine period has passed, have the remaining 14 been released? Have they returned to France or do they remain because so many in their party are at the hospital?

3. Todays's article in TicoTimes elaborates by stating the 6 are in the public hospital San Juan de Dios, not necessarily in their "hospital of choice".

4. There is no detail on where or how the group travelled. Did they, in fact, go around in a "pod"? What other tourists did the mingle with? What hotel, restaurant and transportation staff did they interact with? Like other countries, contact tracing has been abandoned so we will never know that answer.

Costa Rica is unlikely make any changes to their rules and processes. You certainly can't count on any timely press reporting of tourist infections. They want the money too badly. As long as the tourist insurance pays they won't give a shit, it actually brings more money into the country through the hospital billing. Bear in mind that CR based insurance companies can only be tapped for $20,000 while non-CR companies can be mined for $50,000. Could this play a part in the unusually high hospitalization rate? I couldn't possibly comment. Costa Rica will leave it to other countries deal with quarantines for their returning citizens (mandatory or otherwise). Ya'll come back real soon, ya hear?

We all know that mongers are impervious to viral infections. Our unique lifestyle inoculates us from these and STDs as well. The chicas we meet live hermetically sealed lives when they are not among us, as do their families and friends. And when it comes down to it, does the world really need all those frenchies?

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

This story reminds me of a couple that I know. They went off to a swinger resort in Mexico in December. They didn't have to get tested prior to their flight back, but had to quarantine once they did get back. Turned out they had Covid. And had symptoms before they got on the plane, but hid it so they could get home. The flight was a charter, and many of the people had been at the same resort, and most ended up with Covid. Very glad I wasn't on that plane, or at the resort for that matter.

The only thing I could attribute my relatively good health to is bad living. I've always ate whatever I want, as much as I want. Smoked cigars and banged hookers much of my life. The funny part is just about all the organic health nuts I know are complaining about one aliment or another. Well stupid you should of been banging hookers.

And remember friends, whether its $20,000 or $50,000, that is the limit of your COVERAGE. It is not necessarily the limit of your BILL. Costa Rica is free to collect any unpaid balance or sell the debt to a collection agency. International debt collection treaties are strong. Sure you could fight collection. You could 'splain to mediators about why you chose to ignore WHO, CDC, and State Department advisories against foreign travel for an essential booty call to bang hookers, an act that would be a felony in the US. Remember, the person deciding your fate is likely to be a butch gringa or a dude with an 18-month case of blue-balls.

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

Interesting further detail, unfortunately not yet picked up in English translation.
https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/france ... -del-pais/

Brief translation, those frenchies are getting fried.

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

The article published today in crhoy.com gives us a good deal more information. According to group member interviewed, the majority of those hospitalized are around 65 years of age.

This is the underlying problem with COVID-19. Older adults are more vulnerable and require more hospitalization. The crisis has and always been the impact on the capacity of our health care systems.

From a U.S. perspective, I would not worry about the medical costs and repatriation flight.

Care at a public hospital (CCSS) is not expensive in Costa Rica. And, they won't do an international collection. 99.9% of the treatment provided at a public hospital is free because it's paid by payroll taxes. Just getting a caja hospital to print an invoice is an ordeal. I am speaking from experience on this point.

Private hospitals tend to require a couple thousands dollars, payment in advance, usually on a credit card before being admitted. If you can't pay upfront, the private hospital will not admit you.

But, even a surgical procedure like a gallbladder at a private hospital isn't likely to run more than $7,000. https://www.health-tourism.com/gallblad ... osta-rica/

If you have health insurance in the United States, then it generally covers treatment abroad. If you exhaust the mandatory travel policy then your normal insurance will pay.

The irony is that the same treatment in the U.S. may actually cost you more with co-payments or co-insurance. $20,000 is likely to cover all you costs in Costa Rica for COVID-19 treatment.

The new CDC rules for the return flight are clear.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/Fill ... lish-p.pdf

You just have to sign the form indicating that you have been cleared by a doctor. You give the signed form to the airline, and you are done. Just like self-quarantine there is no enforcement. As long as you have a good faith belief that you have been cleared by the doctor, then you have met the requirement and can get on the plane.

Required testing makes air travel safer. It just keep a group of 20 sick people from boarding a 7 hour international flight and infecting how many more elderly people?

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Alex
The Admin

Y'all should open the CRHoy article in Google chrome and translate it into English. You may come away with a very different take on it than the one The Admin describes.

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

If you're talking about the costs, what I'm reading is the tourist group had 14 days of coverage instead of a financial coverage. The insurance is covering the 14 days, but that's it. The actual cost for treatment isn't mentioned. These fine folks are going to have to bear the cost of the additional days. This is why it's nice

For giggles I maxed out the Trawick coverage, $7000 emergency stay, and $250,000 medical coverage. $57.00 for two weeks.

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Ignorance is acceptable, we can remedy that with knowledge,.. stupidity, is when you guard your ignorance ...

Ron haven't you heard Trawick is Bogus and just a Scam

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Stay Humble Amigos !

It's a Flim Flam I tell you!

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Ignorance is acceptable, we can remedy that with knowledge,.. stupidity, is when you guard your ignorance ...

Banging hookers is a felony? Only if they are und***ge, hopefully none of us are doing that.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

The testing requirements means that getting COVID-19 in Costa Rica means that you are going to have to recover from COVID-19 in Costa Rica. That is the simple fact here.

However, with respect to medical costs, $20,000 buys a substantial amount of medical care at the public hospital in Costa Rica. It's entirely possible that the total CCSS bill would be less than the amount of your co-insurance for treatment on a U.S. Silver or Gold market plan.

The idea of the CCSS trying to collect on a bill is just farcical. Seriously, this is an institution that has difficulty just printing an invoice. They can't even take a credit card payment. You would have to pay the bill by making a deposit in their account at the local bank here in Costa Rica.

Everyone stiffs the public health system in Costa Rica. It's less a bill than a tax on the stupid for paying it.

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Alex
The Admin