www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Other than safely bring my two boys into this world at Hospital Calderon. My little girl broke her leg on a trip to the beach. We didn't even know! She had been limping around the house, until we both said - enough. I didn't feel like spending $500 on a ER visit at the CIMA. My wife is Tica has patience beyond my abilities. Grandma came over to babysit the boys. I went to work like normal. The wife went with the baby to the local clinic in Escazu. They immediately gave a referral to the Hospital de Ninos. They took Xrays and found a fracture. I came home at 1 to takeover babysitting. The little girl came home about 1 hour later in a full leg cast. She is now in her chair sleeping like an angel... with a giant white cast. In all, I paid $12 in taxis.

Disclaimer - I could have never spent 8 hours in a hospital waiting for xrays and a cast. I remember being in a motorcycle accident in the US. They sewed me up and put a cast in about four hours and sent me home with pain meds... and the overall costs of my injuries ended up something like 10K. Granted my knee exploded and I needed follow-up.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Chi_trekker...glad to hear your little girl is OK and will mend. Just one of those bumps along the road most K*ds will have but I know as Daddy, it can be tough.

Had a little shorter experience last week with the Caja here in San Ramon. A huge and very playful dog bit me, not deep or anything but it did bring blood so off to the local hospital. Been there enough knew what to do so get my slip and they send me to minor surgery. Nurse comes in and does all the disinfecting then went and got the tetanus shot. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes tops. They even gave me 30 antibiotic pills for free... Like you, the bill was $0.

Way I'm looking at it is, for the equivalent doctor bill in the States, I can wait if need be. Just like your experience, you'd have probably spent $1000 at Cima and perhaps saved 5 hours tops so $200 an hour.

That said, definitely some big differences in the two systems just gotta take the good (no bill) with the bad (longer wait usually). Patience, just like a lot of things here, is a must have. I'm a bit different, spent a lot of time in hospitals with my grandparents and I love to read so it's usually not too bad. Now if we could just convince the Caja to install free wireless internet

_________________
The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

The Caja can try your patience at times, but it never empties your wallet, EVER. IF I could get private insurance in the States (at my age) AT ANY PRICE, the price per month would probably equal what I will be paying for years of coverage with the Caja.

_________________
"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I know I should use the search button, but

Can a non-resident get into the Caja???

One more question? How expensive is a basic medical insurance in Costa Rica, and is that availible to non-res... I know that was two questions

Anyone can subscribe to the Caja system and your payment is based on your income...a certain percent but don't remember the table/scale of it. As for private medical insurance down here, definitly available for non-residents/citizens for use in the private hospitals but no clue as to cost.

_________________
The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

Not quite accurate. The CAJA is restricted to citizens and legal residents. I know of cases where non-residents ( perpetual tourists) where able to register but that is unusual. Like almost everything in Costa Rica the rules are very fluid and the interpretation depends on the person you are dealing with and their mood that day.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Here's a discussion of insurances from ARCR: http://www.arcr.net/services/insurance.html
Might be worth a look.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I'm pretty sure that you can voluntarily pay into the CAJA without residence or citizenship. My lawyer told me it was an option. From the standpoint of the CAJA, it just allows them to spread the risk out on a bigger pool. Now, if they find out you have a pre-existing condition, they would probably find a way to knock you out of coverage.

One thing I'm sure of - if anyone gets in a car accident, you are taken to a CAJA hospital until you are stabilized. This is 100% free regardless of nationality. Once you are stable, if you didn't have CAJA, you would to check into a private hospital for further recovery.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

I have always been advised that non residents can not buy CAJA insurance. The "voluntary plan" is for those citizens and residents who are not covered by an employer or a Costa Rica government pension. The reason many expats elect to use the CAJA instead of an INS plan is because the CAJA has no restrictions on pre existing conditions unlike the INS plans.

This link goes into some detail about the CR health insurance situations and clearly states that you must have residency to use the CAJA.

http://www.therealcostarica.com/health_ ... urance.htm

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

My lawyer told me I could have CAJA before I obtained residency. For example, look here:

http://foros.ccss.sa.cr/noticias/templates/ccss/respuesta.php?id=122

If you can read Spanish, I would take this site before the blog mentioned above.



This says that you can be a foreigner, in special cases, providing you are here legally. I think in this case, if you hand them $80, that would be considered a special case.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

With all due respect I believe you are reading a lot into that. Everyone of those categories requires legal residence, approval of legal residence or passport with ID of legal residence. Perpetual tourists are not deemed to have any type of legal residency they have a tourist visa.



.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Not sure exactly what the law is but I know I first subscribed to the Caja while my residency application was still in process. Did this on the advice of my lawyer who wasn't sure exactly how they would apply the law about paying into the Caja the entire time you have residency. They used my passport number as ID then when I got my cedula a few months later, I had to return and change my identification to my cedula. To renew residency, I had to present receipts to show I was current on my Caja payments. So at the very least, if you have a residency application in process, they will let you enroll in the Caja. Like I said, this is all personal experience...and we all know how the 'rules' in Costa Rica can change on depending on the mood of the person you are dealing with

_________________
The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

Chi-trecker quote: "One thing I'm sure of - if anyone gets in a car accident, you are taken to a CAJA hospital until you are stabilized. This is 100% free regardless of nationality. Once you are stable, if you didn't have CAJA, you would to check into a private hospital for further recovery."

Not sure if Quepos hospital is CAJA hospital, I think so, my tica and her family all go there without paying anything. But these gringo's weren't too happy about emergency treatment and money for a car accident, from the Tico Times

http://www.ticotimes.net/Opinion/Letter ... -our-money

Thats the thing about Costa Rica. You have the written law in one hand. However, nothing is ever enforced, all the time.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Quote Chi-trecker: "One thing I'm sure of - if anyone gets in a car accident, you are taken to a CAJA hospital until you are stabilized. This is 100% free regardless of nationality. Once you are stable, if you didn't have CAJA, you would to check into a private hospital for further recovery."

Just curious, if you didn't have money or were foolish not to have some kind of insurance, away you go anyway?