| almost everybody knows that American health | | | | of all tourists medical care in Costa Rica. More and |
| care is the costliest in the world---by thousands of | | | | more women come for face lifts. Instead of |
| dollars. And, with nearly 50 million Americans | | | | paying $10,000 in an American clinic or hospital, |
| lacking health insurance, injury is added to insult | | | | they hop a plane, pay $3,000 or less, get the |
| because hospitals charge uninsured patients much | | | | procedure they want, recuperate in a tropical |
| more for services than folks with good insurance. | | | | paradise on a Costa Rica vacation, and go home |
| This is where medical care in Costa Rica comes in | | | | with money in their pocket. |
| for thousands of injured and ill American tourists. | | | | Others take a Costa Rica vacation and, while |
| Why? Because they understand that they can | | | | there, undergo breast augmentation. The cost? |
| save up to 65% in Costa Rica for the identical | | | | About $3,200 or so. Thousands less than in the |
| services they would receive in their hometown. | | | | United States. |
| Every year, more than 25,000 people, mostly | | | | Seriously injured people find similar savings. If you |
| from the U.S., board a plane or cruise ship and | | | | are uninsured in the United States and need total |
| travel south for medical care in close to home | | | | knee replacement surgery in the U.S., expect to |
| Costa Rica. | | | | pay $30,000 or more. Alternatively, take a Costa |
| Only the world's finest hospitals have Joint | | | | Rica vacation. Clinica Biblica charges less than |
| Commission International Accreditation. There are | | | | $12,000 for the same procedure. |
| thousands and thousands of hospitals on the globe | | | | In addition to the three JCI accredited hospitals, |
| but only a small percentage attain the excellence | | | | three clinics are accredited by the American |
| for JCI accreditation. | | | | Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory |
| Three Costa Rica hospitals are JCI accredited, | | | | Facilities. They are Sonrisa Por Todo (Smiles for |
| ensuring that they meet the highest international | | | | Everyone) which provides dental care and Pino |
| standards for hospitals and patient care. | | | | Plastic Surgery and UNIBE (University of |
| Those hospitals are Cima, Clinical Biblica, and La | | | | Iberamerica) for surgical and ambulatory care. |
| Catolica Hospital, all in or within minutes of San | | | | Finally, more than a third of all Costa Rica medical |
| Jose, Costa Rica's largest city. | | | | tourists come for dental surgery or dental |
| Costa Rica offers internationally accredited medical | | | | implants. Implants that cost $3,000 in the United |
| hospitals and board certified doctors---many who | | | | States are between $500-$750 in Costa Rica. |
| have studied and trained in the U.S. and other | | | | Periodontal surgery that costs more than $3,000 |
| world renowned medical schools. The care in | | | | at your local dentist is about $400. |
| Costa Rica rival the quality of anywhere but at | | | | Victor Krumm writes about tropical Costa Rica in |
| huge savings to patients. | | | | his popular Costa Rica Vacations site. Costa Rica |
| Lasik eye surgery that can cost $5,000 in | | | | has so many things to do and see, so check out |
| America is less than $2,000. | | | | some of the great Costa Rica National Parks here. |
| Aesthetic surgery accounts for more than 13% | | | | |