Compare And Contrast The Healthcare Of Costa Rica Vs The United States

Healthcare Cost: Costa Rica VS the United States Healthcare has always been a very controversial topic, especially with today's generation. The United States of America does things differently compared to other countries when it comes to the topic of healthcare. For example, the healthcare system in Costa Rica is ranked 36th in the world by the World Health Organization whereas the U.S. is ranked last. So where do we differ? I think three of the most important things in healthcare are what kind of healthcare plans are offered, maternity healthcare, and affordability.

Costa Rica has a system called CAJA (Costarricense de Seguro Social) this is a Universal system that allows citizens and permanent residents to have 100% coverage for medicine,

A natural delivery in a private hospital in Costa Rica can anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000, while a C-section can cost up to about $6,000. For women in Costa Rica that do work, they are allowed four months of maternity leave. Women in Costa Rica can begin maternity leave a month before their due date and take the last three months following the birth of their child and they are paid during the duration of their leave. In the United States, it is very expensive to have a child. A natural delivery can cost an average of $14,768 without complications and for a C-section an average of $26,280 without complications. Maternity leave in the U.S. seems to be very different than in Costa Rica, the Family Medical Leave Act requires employers to allow 12 weeks off for maternity leave but Maternity leave, but it is up to the employer if they are paid or

Costa Rica is popular for medical tourism since it is much cheaper. Some examples of this include knee replacement surgery in Costa Rica without insurance can vary between $15,520 to $29,250. In the U.S. a knee replacement surgery can cost as high as $70,000. Gastric bypass surgery can cost up to $12,900 in Costa Rica and about $25,000 in the U.S. A prime example of the vastly different surgery costs between the two is a heart valve replacement, in Costa Rica this can cost someone roughly $30,000, and, in the U.S., roughly $170,000. That is a huge difference between the two and the numbers truly speak for