A Glance into Costa Rica’s
Health Care System
By Juan Carlos Hidalgo,
www.cato-at-liberty.org
Costa Rica – my home country – has suddenly
become part of the health care debate after
celebrity radio talk show host, Rush
Limbaugh said that he would move to Costa
Rica if ObamaCare were approved by Congress.
Soon after Sunday’s vote in the House of
Representatives, a website was set up to buy
Limbaugh a one-way, first-class ticket to
Costa Rica. Liberals were quick to point out
that my country has a socialized health care
system that is among the best in Latin
America.
People claim that in Costa Rica health care
is a right, not a commodity. The problem
surfaces when you actually need to exercise
your “right.”
Last July, La Nación newspaper carried a
report about one hospital that had 5,000
people on a waiting list for surgery, some
waiting up to a year. Among those on the
list, 900 patients waited months to have
possible cancerous tumors extracted.
According to the head of the Oncology
Department, “We know that 85% to 90% will be
cancer cases based on previous medical
tests.” For many of these patients, the wait
is the equivalent of a death sentence.
Stories like this are common in the Costa
Rican press.
Unfortunately, the current nationalized
health care system and the state-owned
monopoly in health insurance stifle the
development of a viable, dynamic private
health care system. Thus, many Costa Ricans
can’t imagine life without “free” health
care. That’s too bad since there’s nothing
free about mandatory monthly contributions
from workers and nothing just about being
forced to pay for deadly delays in health
care attention. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
