A lot of negative buzz in the U.S. hisses "socialized medicine," partly because of the delays and restrictions associated with government run health care in many countries.
"That's not what I found in Costa Rica, at all," said retiree Gene Warneke from his home near Grecia, a sky-top villa overlooking Costa Rica's lush Central Valley. He now walks with a prosthetic leg in the aftermath of an amputation brought on by a clotting disorder.
As an American living with a disability in Costa Rica, Warneke dealt with his health care and medical challenges both in the U.S. and in Costa Rica. And the story of how he came to see the inside of socialized medicine in Costa Rica and government run insurance plans is relevant for people interested in the quality of healthcare they might experience if choosing to retire in Costa Rica.
"Before I retired in Costa Rica, I had been living and working in southern California and carried the "Cadillac" of medical coverage -- an 80/20 plan through Blue Cross," Warneke said. It was coverage he was glad to have when he tore three shoulder ligaments. The price of surgery and recovery added up fast. No matter how one does the math, Warneke's share of the $30,000 tab at a San Diego hospital, plus co-pays at every follow-up visit added up, and up, and up.
Compare Costa Rica Insurance Policies to U.S.
In Costa Rica, a fall two years later re-damaged the ligaments, another surgery followed, and another hospital bill, this time under a Costa Rican insurance policy. One of his first moves in finalizing his retirement dream had been to buy coverage from a quasi-governmental agency, Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), or National Insurance Institute. Instead of a 20-percent deductible, his share was 10 percent. Ten percent of what?
"Ten percent of $6,000, the total cost of my out-patient hospital usage, surgery by a leading orthopedic surgeon who had studied at Baylor University in the U.S. and months of outpatient care and therapy to nurse the damaged ligaments, a notoriously difficult injury to deal with," Warneke said.
If that were all there was to tell, this would be one up-beat anecdote about so-called socialized medicine and government-backed insurance plans in Costa Rica. "With the Costa Rica INS plan, I didn't have one complaint about access, long lines, wait times, non-availability," Warneke said.
Compare Surgical Care in Costa Rica to U.S.
But there is one more chapter. It's about the medical mystery that robbed Warneke of his leg. Two years after the shoulder injury had faded to an occasional twinge, he began feeling a numbness in his left foot: blood clots in the femoral artery were starving his limb of oxygen, and gangrene was imminent. The failed artery was bypassed and the dying foot amputated. But the wound wouldn't heal and further surgery found the reason.
"A major vein to the surgical site below my shin clotted closed," He said. "The skin and bone couldn't heal without blood flow, and another vein bypass was required. Another amputation had to be performed several inches above my knee. "Did the surgeons perform according to world class standards? A friend of Warneke's living in California had the American Embassy in Costa Rica send over their doctor to consult with and review the work of Warneke's surgeons. He found that they had done the best any surgeon could have done, whether in the U.S. or anywhere else.
By now you might be extending Warneke condolences on the loss of his leg -- and condolences on the loss of his retirement kitty, right? Not quite. "Costa Rica's public socialized medical system covered this emergency," Warneke said. "The premiums were $32 a month and there was no co-payment as long as I used the hospitals and doctors in the plan, a system identical to HMO and PPO plans in the U.S.," he said.
Compare Quality of Care in Costa Rica to U.S.
The ultimate test, however, is the quality of care. "I'd rate both my American experience and my two Costa Rican experiences as medically equal," Warneke said. "The difference is the price tag; my first Costa Rican plan -- the equivalent of Blue Cross of California -- cost me less than a third of the American bill. The Costa Rican government's provider plan cost me next to nothing," he said.
Oh, wait. There was one big difference. After a hernia repair in California, Warneke had to be treated for a drug-resistant bacterial infection that he acquired in the U.S. hospital. In the Costa Rican episode, he opted to spend about a $1,000 for an elective hernia repair ($6500 in SoCal) and suffered no bacterial infection.
"No ex-pat in Costa Rica needs to worry about 'being taken care of,'" Warneke said. "Here, medical compassion and expertise, whether preventive, elective, or unexpected, unwanted, or even a life-threatening emergency, is an integral part of this society."
Warneke has been featured in television coverage and in August 28 article in AIDia.cr. regarding the new prosthetic micro-processing unit in his leg. "It seems I'm the first in Central America to have this type," he said. However, he wants to upgrade to an ottobock.com Otto Bock C-leg, a second-generation computer-chip implanted prosthetic that will make his sometimes tipsy navigation safer and smoother.
Read Warneke's blogs.traveling4health.com/medicalresources/a-costa-rican-othotist-prosthetist-dino-cozzarelli-will-save-lots-money-by-providing-high-quality-prosthetic-services interview of his medical provider in Costa Rica.
Ilene Little, a former newspaper columnist for the Journal of the San Juans, The Key West Citizen, and Special to The Seattle Times, is founder of traveling4health.com Solutions for Health and Lifestyle.
No comments:
Post a Comment