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I am looking for a major medical healthcare plan in CR. I am 52 years and in good health I just want something incase of an accident or a misfortune in the way of major medical. Everything else I believe the costs are such its better to pay as you go. Would also like some advice on my way of thinking from somebody who has on hand experience. Thanks
Chimbo,
Health insurance in Costa Rica is like the Model T. It comes in any color you want, as long as it’s black. Actually it’s better than that, call it black and gray.
There’s the CAJA, the state “social security” system which provides free health care for all employees, and there’s the INS, the state insurance monopoly, which offers insurance plans for health, property, auto, life, etc. I doubt they have more than one major medical plan, but I may be wrong. You might have to choose between two.
Then there are the international plans from private companies outside CR.
Health care in CR is very good. The CAJA system does require long waits though.
These are the main courses. I’m sure others will chime in to tell you how they each taste. Please note that the country is in the process of opening up its markets. Ins, Recope and Ice (the state insurance, energy and communications monopolies, respectively), may loosen their grip on these markets in the near future as part of CAFTA.
Paying private clinics and hospitals for the small stuff, while having a major medical policy in your pocket, sounds like the right way to go for you. Even when I was part of the CAJA system, I still paid private health care facilities for the small things because I wasn’t willing to wait. The low cost of these services was well worth it. When we had our 2nd child, we went through the CAJA at Hospital Mexico. I figured they couldn’t make us wait in that case. My wife said the care was excellent. The only problem was they asked her the name of the newborn right after labor. Through the drug-induced haze and shock of birth, she got it wrong. Too late though, it’s etched in stone in the National Registry from that point on.
Myself, 11 & 14 yr old sons are arriving there from the US in a few weeks. We are now covered under my company, but since we are moving to CR, we will need to find new coverage. The CAJA sounds like a nightmare, however I have heard the INS does not cover pre-existing conditions, which would be a problem. I did try to review the coverage on website but I found it to be rather vague…. I am also investigating international plans but they seem pricey. We have no major medical problems, but my 14 yr old has been on different meds here & there for possible ADHD, mood disorders. I have heard psyotropic meds are not readily available there any way. ANY SUGGESTIONS?????
This posted inw rong place and reposted here by SCott
Posted Jan 07,2007 9:38 AM chimbo
Thank You Gringo Tico, Can you give me an idea of what the costs are for the INS program. Just looking for a general idea. ThanksDeb, Think about having your son see an integrative physician regarding these problems. I am not a dr. but have two children and my son who went through a list of “meds” from 16-19 was really only damaged more by there aweful side effects. When I got him away from his moms care we explored different paths including mindfullness meditation and he is doing very well. But all cases are different and a good MD with a intergrative/holistic approach could be of some help to your son. Best of luck either way.
I am open to anything. He has been on so many meds ….for naught. Any suggestions on drs,etc who use a more holistic,natural approach?
Regarding pricing for policies, it’s been a while, and I don’t know what the costs are currently. However, the website for the INS is:
It’s in Spanish of course, but you can click right through to all the agents, as well as their email adresses.
I think you will have to just search the internet in your area, try http://www.drweil.com I think they have a referal site. And even with Doctors that practice these modalities you need to find the right one for you. Again good luck, if you are in the NYC area I would be happy to refer you to my Doctor. I have prefered working with MDs that practice and are educated in these “alternative” therapies. My Doc graduated from Yale med school 17 years ago.
Get your son to a good nutritionist and keep him off all foods that contains aspartame, dyes, preservatives, sugar, corn syrup, natural flavorings and any kind of chemical. More and more doctors are starting to recognize that there is no such thing as ADD/ADHD — I work with a lot of parents who fell for this bogus dx and whose children were henceforth placed on a long list of psychiatric drugs, all of which caused more damage than the kid had before. The woman I work with is skilled and very knowledgeable about getting people off psychiatric drugs and getting them on a good nutrition protocal, which is almost always what a child who has been misdx’d really needs. I could put you in touch with her if you are interested. Some of the drugs commonly rx’d for this dx can cause permanent damage, and even death (Ritalin). Perhaps a less stressful environment such as Costa Rica with all that good healthy fruit and vegetables will be the best thing you can do for him. What irks me the most about these silly dx’s is that they are profit driven — schools receive money for each child they can get on meds.
I am currently in IL (USA) but moving to Costa Rica next month. He has a horrid (strange) appetite…loves things with preservatives,etc. It seems like he absolutely craves sweets. Anyway, I would appreciate names in Costa Rica, for I had already planned on checking alternative treatments. I had already thought of the fresh fruits there being a good start.
His diet is probably most of his problem. Some of those preservatives, etc. make kids so wired they are bouncing off the walls, and some of the drugs make you crave sugar which results in diabetes at some point. He needs a good, clean organic diet. The woman I mentioned(who’s been doing this for 20 years) works through the internet and runs a website for people getting off of and recovering from taking psychiatric drugs. There are a lot of parents with children like your son in the group. Most of the kids did really well once they were successfully withdrawn from the multiple medications and put on a clean diet. If you contact me off list, I can give you her information. She charges for private consults, but not for participation in the group. Seems like the more drugs you give these kids the more dx’s they wind up with, which are really nothing more than side effects from the original medication for ADD. Kids taking Ritalin/Concerta/Adderall/Stratera along with antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor, et al) usually wind up with a dx of bi-polar, for which they are given, what else, but MORE drugs. We’ve hounded the FDA for years to get appropriate suicide and homicide warnings on these drugs, and we finally succeeded two years ago with the warning for teenagers, and now those same warnings apply to adults thanks to unceasing pressure from groups like ours.
Deb-Maravilla makes some very good points and I agree with her thoughts on diet for anyone. But there are often bio medical causes to some of these problems. The deficiency of certain brain chemicals or neuro transmitters can result in iregularities in a persons mental health. There are simple blood tests as well as a urine test that can be done to measure about 12 or 14 different neuro transmitters. And if the practicioner finds low levels they can prescribe amino acid supplements and others to bring these levels up to normal ranges. There is a company called Neuroscience, http://www.neurorelief.com (Maravilla you may find this info intersting,and helpful) this is one of the companys my doctor uses. There are also very good homeopathic medicines that can be very helpful in issues of mental health that can help get the mind calm while you get the underlining causes addressed. I speak as a person who has greatly benefited from all of the above, I suffered panic attacks that came out of the clear blue sky in my early 40’s..it’s a long story. Of course the first doctor I went to(after finaly figuring out what was going on. I had been in the emergecy room several times over the course of a year and just sent home. None of the docs on duty ever refered me to a therapist, and I had no idea what was going on) wanted to put me on prozac after a 20 minute consultation, I was not going down that path. Previous to this I was un diagnosed and actually diagnosed my own condition via the internet. I was lucky and found an amazing integrative doctor through a friend, first consultation was an hour and a half history! We did the testing found I was very deficient in two neuro transmitters and he put me on a combination of amino acids and two other supplements for about 4-6 months. I also used cognitive therapy and yoga/meditation which really enhanced my quality of life in ways I could not have imagined. Of course just popping some pills is an easy way to get symptoms under control but getting to the heart of some of these issues will take more patience and work but of course it is well worth it. Remember your doctors that only practice allopathic medicine will tell you you are a kook and just want to put your son on conventional meds. Don’t give up find that good integrative doctor who is up on the latest research etc…it will change your life.
Lotus, those tests are very interesting, but to my knowledge (after ten years of researching pharma propaganda and medical practices), there is absolutely no reliable test for measuring levels of brain neurotransmitters unless they take brain tissue post mortem and spin it in a centrifuge. That’s why this theory that a chemical imbalance is responsible for any mood disorder is only a theory and nothing more. If you listen to the carefully worded ads for say, Zoloft, it goes something like this: “Depression is a serious illness whose cause is unknown (here they admit they don’t know what causes depression), but the ad goes on to say, “It may be caused (they don’t say it IS caused) by a chemical imbalance,” but then again it may NOT be caused by a chemical imblance since they already admitted they don’t know what causes it in the opening statement. Anything in your blood, urine, is only the metabolites not the real neurotransmitters in your brain and does not reflect actual levels and since there are zero guidelines or standards for how much of any of the 400 neurotransmitters in your brain you need, the tests are actually pretty inaccurate. Even taking a sample of spinal fluid does not measure levels in the brain as those too are metabolites. An integrative doctor is the best bet in medicine today — all allopathic doctors are inculcated with pharmaceutical propaganda designed to sell drugs; it’s not about curing anything, it’s only about managing the symptoms. Dietary and nutritional deficiencies are responsible for most illnesses, including disorders of a psychological nature.
But outside of allopathic medicine you have modalities where we must rely on anecdotal evidence, or in the case of neuroscience there testing and research. The “levels” of specific neurotransmitters changed in the testing that was done on me after taking two different amino acids, of course one has to believe in there conclusions. I’m not a scientist but it may be something you want to look into further. I have been a vegetarian, supplement taker etc..for 24 years and am all for the healthy diet habits you recommend. That said I know similar people that suffer from debiltating depression etc…eating a balanced, organic diet is not always enough. You are right no one has the answers but at least some of the alternatives are non toxic and there is research and clinical trials on them. Dealing with someone who has a severe mental disturbance is difficult to say the least. When the mind is reeling out of control it seems some of these pharmaceuticals help, yes but why we are not always sure. Example: A very good friends mom was diagnosed as “manic depressive” and was a total mess before taking lithium, could not function. So she was on this for years, of course we don’t have to get into all the side effects etc…but she was able to raise her family, work and so on. By the way she is former hippy with a healthy diet etc… Long story short, a friend convinced her and her husband that this was a big pharma conspiracy, no such thing as “bi polar” etc…Took her off the meds, put her on a raw food organic diet with heavy supplementation and super blue green algae etc…After a few weeks she slipped back into severe mental disturbance and almost killed herself. My point is there are no easy answers, and what is great about integrative/holistic medicince is that it seeks to combine the best of both worlds. A classicaly trained scientist can not respect modalities such as energy healing, accupunture, homeopathy etc… it goes against everything they were taught…Just my thoughts on this very, very complex issue. Maybe we should get back to “Paragon good or bad”..Lol
Okay, so we’re back to the Paragon topic. . . hahahaha. Of course, your blood levels would change to reflect what you were taking, but it doesn’t necessarily measure your brain chemistry, which cannot be measured while you are alive! But thankfully, there are doctors who are looking at the value of nutrition to treat all kinds of ailments, which isn’t really anything new — i.e., Vitamin C deficiencies lead to scurvy. Vitamin B-12 deficiencies cause schizophrenia. I’ll check out that website, as I am always interested in anything that doesn’t smack of the fraud of Western medicine. I guess if I got hit by a truck, I’d want to good mechanic/orthopedist, but for everything else I rely on prevention rather than a cure. And I keep my fingers crossed that I never develop a need to see those people! Here’s an interesting article someone just sent me. BTW, do you know of a good holistic doctor in Costa Rica? I’ve found an acupuncturist and a chiropractor, but I guess I need a good medical doctor in case I start hemorrhaging from every orifice, which is about the only reason I would go back to an allopathic doctor!
Doctor decides on a controversial route
HELEN PUTTICK, Health Correspondent January 08 2007
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/78223.html
Patients are being offered tests for nutritional deficiencies and
prescribed supplements as treatment in a controversial move by a
Scottish doctor.
Dr Tom Gilhooly is launching his own private clinic and blood
screening laboratory, where he is offering to check for gaps in
people’s diet.
The service, which will be staffed by GPs who can consider whether
symptoms are due to underlying medical problems as well as mineral
and vitamin shortages, is the latest in a line of private healthcare
enterprises to launch in Scotland.
Dr Gilhooly is planning to create a chain of nutritional clinics and
challenge conventional medicine to consider whether ailments could be
linked to a lack of nutrients, in particular fish oil omega-3 and
vitamin D.
However, his combination of traditional and alternative healthcare
has led to some doctors questioning the evidence for prescribing
supplements.
Professor Edzard Ernst, the UK’s only professor of complementary
medicine, said: “With a normal diet you get most of the nutrients
that your body needs. This supplementation provides very expensive
urine.”
Dr Gilhooly has already given supplements to patients in his NHS
surgery in the East End of Glasgow, recommending omega-3 instead of
Prozac to people with symptoms of depression.
He said: “When people come back a month later… they are often
completely well. They are not less depressed, they are well and they
feel great and they say ‘Can I carry on with this?'”
He argues everyone in Scotland should know their level of omega-3 and
vitamin D. Studies have linked low levels of vitamin D with multiple
sclerosis and the high rates of the disease north of the border
linked to the cloudy climate. Dr Gilhooly suggested patients with a
family history of the condition should investigate their nutrient
intake.
At the private surgery, the Essential Health Clinic in the Mitchell
Arcade, Rutherglen, patients will be asked about their medical
history and problems.
Dr Gilhooly is opening his own laboratory at Glasgow University. A
consultation with one of the clinic GPs is expected to cost around
£80 and a test for omega-3 around £99.
Dr Gilhooly claimed carefully conducted research backed his
work: “This is a very scientific approach,” he said. “We are not
interested in wacky new age treatments.”
However, Professor Graham Watt, professor of general practice at
Glasgow University, said supplements tended to comfort the worried
well.
He said: “It doesn’t seem to me to be addressing something that is
important in terms of the health needs of the general population. In
general people are not malnourished in the sense of lacking things.
But there is deep-rooted public anxiety about these things. What
supplements do is treat the anxiety.”
Dr Mairi Scott, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland,
said such clinics detracted from the real health needs of the west of
Scotland.
She added: “I am not aware of a strong evidence base to this kind of
work. I think it is a problem if people perceive it as meeting a real
need as opposed to a real want. There’s nothing wrong with meeting
people’s wants as long a we do not invest public money in that in
terms of health because I think that we have to make sure we spend
public money as effectively as possible.”
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