Costa Rica Real Estate Magazine

ARTICLE | REAL ESTATE

They tell me that they never thought they needed more money than the budgeted to travel, and never thought about acquir- ing medical insurance with international coverage or travel medical insurance. The patient ended up contacting relatives in their country of origin and managed to resolve the situation, allowing the aero- medical transfer to a hospital in the capi- tal, and their corresponding surgery. For- tunately, the procedure was a complete success, full recovery, and the return home without problems, but difficult and distressing moments were endured. The ideal preparation is to have the financial funds available for the care of an emer- gency, but difficult to predict the cost of medical care during an emergency with- out it happening, or to acquire a medical expenses insurance plan either within your local insurance plan in your coun- try with international coverage, and / or purchase travel insurance, which covers medical expenses incurred during your trip usually in the form of reimbursement. The above is limited to the economic cov- erage capacity of each insurance plan, if you have deductible expenses, co-insur- ance or co-payments, all situations that your insurance company should inform in advance. It is best to have access to your local insurance in your home country with international coverage, in addition to sec-

ondary travel insurance. This guarantees coverage in case of an emergency. In or- der to use your medical expenses insur- ance, either from your local plan or travel- er’s insurance, you must always present your insurer’s information, insurance identification with information regarding the policy (policy number, insured num- ber) in addition to your passport and a second personal identification. These data are the basic ones to be present- ed in any private medical center in any country to be able to check its coverage and define if it can be used as a payment method. It should be noted that the ac- ceptance of medical insurance as a form of payment is established independently by each medical center, there are some health centers that only accept medical insurance by reimbursement and not as a form of direct payment, however, they are in the minority. It is important to consider when trave- ling, also know well your medical his- tory. If you suffer from any disease and take treatment for it, know the name of the medication, its dose and frequency. Consider if you are allergic to any medi- cation, if you have had surgeries or if you have recently been hospitalized for any condition. If you suffer from any chronic medical condition that you manage with the use of medications, you must travel

with them in sufficient quantity for the du- ration of the trip. A chronic condition for which daily medications are used, at the time the person stops taking them the risk of decompensation is high, depending on the medical condition. It is worth noting that when traveling, the person can take with them the amount of medication nec- essary to control their illnesses during their trip, in order to try to avoid the pos- sible complications of a decompensation. It is very important, in addition to the previ- ous recommendations, to do your home- work, to know what medical services are available in the area where you are go- ing to travel, what response capacity they have, and where they are located. Hav- ing the phone number to communicate with them (medical center) is indispensa- ble. Try to find out if a transfer should be made, to where it would be and with what hospital, and if possible, know if they ac- cept your medical expenses insurance as a form of payment. I hope this information is helpful to plan and schedule your next trip, and that you like Costa Rica so much, that you want to come and live here in our area.

Article from page 34

66 COSTA RICA REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE