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Public Health insurance is mandatory for foreign residents (CAJA), but private health insurance is also available. If you move to Costa Rica and get your legal residency, you will also have to apply for the C.C.S.S.
The C.C.S.S. is the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social or the Costarican Department of Social Security for Costa Rican health insurance. Everybody calls it CAJA.
Maybe this system is okay if you like to start standing in line at 4:00 am at the clinic. That is necessary to get an appointment for an operation they might plan for next year. The attention at the local Ebais, part of the Social Security system, is much better. Ebais doctors refer patients with a specific problem to a specialist in a hospital.
Private Health Insurance – INS Medical – can be a great option, but you must be a legal resident in Costa Rica. Private hospitals give a much better service than public hospitals, and INS might be an option for your coverage.
My wife, Dany, and I, used to pay about $3,300 annually (In July 2013) for INS medical. That was, at the time, quite a bit below the cost most international health insurance companies were charging. We are both non-smokers. I was 58, and Dany was a lot younger. In 2018, we stopped paying INS Medical because they were not covering many of our medical needs. They said those were pre-existing issues, but they all happened while we had their insurance. So do your homework before you pay into the INS Medical private health insurance.
Dental care is not included in INS medical, so click the banner below for a great and affordable solution:
What you need to get INS medical
Check these bullet points below with your insurance agent. The ARCR gives these services at reduced prices.
1. Be a legal resident or a Costa Rican citizen.
2. Temporary residents who are students, work in Costa Rica, or are corporate clients of INS (if you have any other insurance in your name).
3. Residents under 55 years old, who get private medical health insurance for the 1st time, are not required to take any medical exams (both sexes).
4. INS is one of the few health insurances that accepts senior citizens. Patients over 55 years old, who get the insurance for the 1st time, are required to take the following exams (this may change):
- Practitioner Report to detail and explain the diseases that have been treated or are treated,
- Physical examination,
- urinalysis,
- total cholesterol,
- triglycerides,
- fasting blood glucose and PsA test (men),
- electrocardiogram
- and cardiovascular assessment.
5. INS pays all the other exams by approved suppliers, except for the practitioner’s report.
6. The INS does not accept pre-existing medical conditions.
ARCR Seminar
You can learn more about public and private health insurance and much more at the monthly two-day ARCR seminar for only $158,20; click the banner below. You can buy INS medical at a discounted price from the ARCR.
What coverage does INS Medical offer?
a. Medical coverage that includes
- Maternity,
- Transplant,
- Surgical implants,
- Congenital diseases of the newborn,
- Prematurity,
- Epidemic and pandemic diseases,
- Recreational diving and soccer practice,
- Air Ambulance,
- Sports,
- Medical treatment for mental or nervous disorders,
- Emergencies during travel abroad and overseas medical expenses,
b. Travel Assistance Coverage.
c. Physical examination, including ophthalmologic checkup.
d. Death coverage protects Death, Burial, and Liberation of the insurance payment direct death benefit.
e. Emergency dental coverage
Photo used in featured image: Image by benzoix on Freepik
