@AU #40:
That was my post from a while back. Funny I haven't been on the Drudger in ages, and when I log in, lo, the Limpball has spoken about the rich coast and his desire to move here, of all places, if the health care changes for the better in the US. Doubtless, it's the tranny hookers that are reeling him in.
Anyway, two points. One, my bill wasn't $100. It was slightly less than $8k. This included a night time boat ride to the lovely, sweltering port of Golfito, and a one night stay at their rather limited hospital, and 2 weeks in CIMA, in San Jose, where I was housed in a two room suite with blazing internet (all the better to research snake venom and serum sickness) and a hottie nurse and bright doctors checking in constantly. This was far, far less than it would have been in the States, and happily, I survived an allegedly lethal dose of terciopelo aka fer de lance (bothrops asper) venom without permanent damage (unlike the guys bit before and after me in my neck of the jungle). That was probably a combination of good treatment, my general high fitness level at the time, a very, very positive mental attitude, and dumb luck.
Two: CIMA is a private hospital, so I paid their market rates. Which is to say, even in a nation with universal, socialist-style health care, there still exist private institutions who offer a better grade of health care--for a price. I'm not sure what the cost would have been if I'd stayed in Golfito, but honestly, I wasn't ready to find out. No AC, some guy dying of TB next to me and sleeping in a barracks like quarters with nosy nurses checking out my unit while I dealt with a bedpan...not pleasant overall. So I opted for CIMA, the best hospital in the country, and thankfully, my American insurance (oxford) eventually paid for it.
So, that's the context. However, I have been to "free" hospitals and received adequate treatment for basic injuries--broken bones, flu, ear infection, etc. The waits were not interminable, the doctor's were not idiots, there was no general squalor. There were some dodgy machines and 70's era lighting, but that's about the worst of it. More importantly, CR is a poor country, and I know plenty of people (locals and expats) who go to the regular hospitals for serious conditions, and receive good treatment. Some of them, in the more developed areas in the North, are excellent. I chose CIMA because, given my location and desperation, it was the closest real hospital (ie. not a rural clinic). Had I been in Guanacaste, I would have had more options, and a cheaper bill.
Anyway, socialized medicine may not be perfect, but in my experience here as well as in England, Germany and France, I'm pretty sold on the value of national health care. It's certainly a sore sight better than what the US offers, and provides for the private physician to still thrive. Also the doctors here are not only well paid (relative to everybody else), but very well respected, which is an intangible, yet very real, value.
Limpball wouldn't like it outside of the country clubs, so I doubt we'll cross paths. Then again, to take his histrionics seriously is to fall into his trap. No hagas este.
Paz a todos.
