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[quote=”waggoner41″]
Everyone we know either has their residency or is in process so no one need go.
I dont understand the idea of the perpetual tourist. One foot in and one foot out makes it seem like they can’t make up their minds.[/quote]
Not really…..some of us are not of retirement age (my wife is still in her thirties and I’m in my early fourties) and don’t have SS or other retirements that have kicked in, This makes it more difficult to get residency and making us “perpetual tourists”. Yes there are other ways of getting residency but like I stated its much more difficult. Thus the “perpetual tourist” option doesn’t seen so bad or difficult compared to the other options.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]You are correct that CIMA Hospital is not part of the CAJA network, so CAJA enrollment won’t do you any good there.
If you learn something interesting about an insurance plan offered by CIMA, would you please post the basics?
Thanks![/quote]
Hi David….
We didn’t get a response via email from CIMA, thus my wife whose Spanish is a lot better then mine called. CIMA does not have its own insurance plan. They accept the INS international and regional plan, with all other international plans, assuming your insurance carrier will pay in Costa Rica, if you are hospitalized for more then one day CIMA will bill your insurance company and you don’t have to front the money. For outpatient procedures and rehabilitation (PT), they will bill your insurance company for you but you have to pay out of pocket and then if your insurance company accepts the claim, your insurance company will reimburse you directly. My wife will be getting some PT starting in July, our BCBS plan states they will cover it, thus we will pay out of pocket and hopefully will get reimbursed for it.…..To bad CIMA doesn’t have their own plan. I would think that those living on just SS of $1,000 per month couldn’t afford the INS plan, I suspect that it would take too much of a bite for them. Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard of anyone with the INS plan.
If you just forget about CR for a moment. What is the return rate of those that move to another state in the USA?
In the US, there are many folks that move from all over to Florida but yet in the last couple of years stats have shown in cities like Cape Coral that more people are returning home to where they started from then are moving in, meaning the population growth in these areas are negative and the return rate is very high.
What am getting at is there is always a certain % that will return where they came from for many reasons, with a different language and culture, you would expect the natural return rate to be higher from non English speaking countries. So perhaps the question shouldn’t be what is the raw return rate but what is the return rate of folks that return from Costa Rica compared to other Latin American countries or for that matter other foreign countries. Perhaps a 40% rate as mentioned earlier is really low compared to other countries.
Thanks David,
I guess the assumption to make is that the CIMA doesn’t accept the CAJA insurance. I send CIMA an email to see if they have their own private insurance plan. I know some local private clinics do. I did see the price list on CIMA website for some common procedures, I was actually shocked to see how inexpensive they were. but these didn’t include Doctor fees, but still seemed very reasonable.
Actually if you search the forums you will find just about all your answers to your question.
Check out Miss O postings, she asked the same questions:
David does bring up a lot of good points but I would also like to shed more light on SIPs. I am not a SIP Expert but I can answer a lot of these questions having build with them.
First….The OSB is sealed with a house Wrap, Good quality OSB stands up much greater then regular Ply wood in high humidity. If done correctly, no need to worry about high humidity. SIPS in nature have less issues with insects, fungus etc.
Second….You don’t need to use drywall, There are other finishes including tongue-and-groove clad panels which are really nice. If you are doing a Timber Frame house, this gives it a nice feel. We used it for the entire ceiling which connected direct to the SIP. It is of course more expensive then drywall.
Third….This is a good point but it’s not very difficult to build with it, but I wouldn’t want someone doing it unless I really trusted them or had previous experience with it.
Fourth….Yes SIP’s would be very expensive in CR, typically the material and manufacturing is very expensive but in the states you make up a lot of the cost in savings in labor, this is not the case in Costa Rica with labor being hugely less compared to the states.
Fifth….SIPS are considered Earthquake resistant, The structural characteristics of SIPs are similar to that of a steel I-Beam. In Japan several SIP buildings went through a 7.2 earthquake, they were basically the only buildings that were left intact.
I could have sworn last year that I heard of a builder or supplier in CR that was doing SIPs but just don’t remember who it was.
In the states I would not build with anything but SIPS (insulation, strength value). Of course because of the tightness of construction with SIPS, you will need an ERV to bring in fresh air from the outside. In CR again it just doesn’t make sense to me, It would be just so costly for insulation you really don’t need. With all the windows that most people put into their CR house, it really doesn’t make sense as you lose a lot of the R value from the windows that you would gain from the SIPS. It’s all in the windows….LOL
We finished building a solar house in NC about a year and a half ago. We used the standard “Green” SIP’s 4 inch. They have a true R value (unlike stick build) of 24, roof of 6 inches gives a true R value of 40. IMHO….SIPS are an over kill in CR and an unnecessary expense, the climate just isn’t that extreme to get the benefit. Concrete block would do the trick, Perhaps the only think I would go with is Double pane windows if anything and better quality sliders. The construction grade windows and sliders down here are poor quality in my view, pay a little extra and upgrade. Solar Hot Water would also be a savings in a few short years.
Windows:
Single Pane: R .85
Double Pane: R 2.0
Double pane with Argon gas R 2.7-3.5I assume you will have a lot of windows to maximize CR views. This is why I would go with upgrading windows.
Just for fun:
stick build home R factors:
2 x4 R-13 (however this it not true R-13 as there are thermal breaks along the studs)
2 x 6 untrue R-19
Concrete Block, low R value but it heats and cools very slowly (probably because of the high mass), perhaps that is why its used in Florida. I have seen studies that have shown there is a little sayings if you insulate the concrete block, In one study in Miami it had a payback time of 30 years. Of course Miami is typically much hotter then CR, thus your payback time would even be longer in CR.
http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/940311.htmlIn CR the plan cover 90% for the first 5000 then 100% for in network, there is also a 1 day hospital room deductible.
for out of network in CR its 70% for the first 20,000 with the room deductible, (actually the same as out of network for USA with the exception in the USA no room deductible…who would guess that)
We are lucky enough that we don’t have any preexisting conditions. Looking at the policy there is a difference in reimbursement rates for the US and CR. For example a standard hospital room is paid at $150 a day/ $300 a day for ICU bed in CR but in the US they allocate $500 a day/ $1000 a day for the same beds. The average cost according to the web for a standard us bed in a hospital is $240. The way I understand it in the USA if you are in network (have no idea what in network is) it pays 80% for the first 20,000 and 100% after, meaning the most you will be out of pocket is 4000. out of network is the same thing but paid at 70%. There seems the be only a few things that they limit payments on; Organ transplant is one at $250,000.
We are trying to stay away from the CAJA as we have heard there are long waits and the hospital are good but not quite as good as the private ones.
By the way, we do have BCBS currently and they do pay for all emergency service in CR and they also pay for all services at CIMA.
Thanks for the information, Do you have any recommendations on where to purchase and get Lojack installed in CR?
Thanks
Boy, that stinks that you have to buy both theft and collision. I kinda of like this Lojack option “forget the rest” Should I get Lojack installed in the states or in CR?, I have another couple of weeks before I ship the car.
Thanks for all your help.
Okay, yes this is terrible but I also see a lot of good in this.
Perhaps Americans will now get a wake up call with off shore drilling, perhaps they will completely stop it, or maybe they will stop using as much oil, or go with alternative green energy. In any event, people should now have some awareness and education on the subject.
What we really need is a Hurricane to really make it a huge mess that will even effect a greater number of folks. Americans might ask with all the technology and resources American has do we have to be the greatest user of oil and the greatest polluter of all nations?
Sometimes things need to get bad before a drastic change is made. Lets hope this is just the event.
