Ask Lemmy

Costa Rica : You can have an appointment the same or the next day, and appointmens can be requestet online, by phone or getting to the nearest medical medical center. Costa Rica's social security covers everything, from medication to surgery and you are covered for the next theree months if you lose your job. There are few surgeried that are not practiced in the country as some may need technology that we do not have. The cons of Costa Ricas social health's service is that for some processes the waiting lines are very long and could take even a year or more. Might not be as good as european social health's services, but for a third world country I think is not any bad.

Honestly depends.

If it's life or death urgent, an ambulance arrives, takes you away and with any luck, fix you right up. Visitors will likely have to pay to park at the hospital, and that will be your biggest expense. When my dad had a cardiac arrest, it was during covid, so the parking was free. The biggest expense was cleaning his blood off the carpets and putting their cat in the cattery for a week.

If it's something non-urgent, and the cause isn't immediately found by a doctor, then you might go on a waiting list and be seen in a few months maybe. And even then it might not get sorted. It's not like House.

The most annoying bit is the 8am phone roulette to try and get an appointment.

It's pretty much bullshit, you just get ignored or condescended to by assholes who want you out of their office so they can get the next "billable" in. When you demand competent attention, they just use their knowledge of the system to fuck with you. I had a doctor write me out a prescription the pharmacist took away, hiding the evidence of the doctor writing out a female hormone prescription rather than an appropriate treatment. 3 year wait list for a specialist, turned up they day of to find it had been cancelled a year prior. No recourse, can't contact these people by phone, when you trick the accounting dept to put you through to the office you had the appointment with, they lose their shit on you. STD check request? You get some moron demanding to know why you feel the need for testing. Canada, btw. I haven't had health insurance in 9 years, the first 6 because that province I lived i flat out refused to issue a health card, and the last three i this province, just because I am so over their bullshit I no longer care, I ever get hurt bad enough again need help, I'll worry about it then I guess. They just tend to let you die anyways, as far as diseases, injuries they'll do what they can, but cancer and the like they wait you out.