Q COSTARICA — An elderly woman from San Carlos found herself needing to appeal to the Constitutional Court (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV as it is often referred to) to guarantee her right to timely health and medical care.
The woman, whose identity was not released, was scheduled to receive care from the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS/Caja) — Costa Rica’s public healthcare system — in 2047; that is, in 21 years and after she has turned 85.
The woman suffers from knee osteoarthritis due to genu varum, a medical condition that hinders her daily activities, according to her complaint.
With the court ruling, the CCSS was forced to move up the appointment to the coming weeks.
The problem
To get an appointment with a specialist or undergo surgery, Costa Ricans must wait more than a year on average, according to CCSS data.
The number of days depends on the specialty and the service saturation at each hospital.
For example, a nephrology (kidney medicine and is a subspecialty of internal medicine) appointment at the Baltodano Briceño Hospital in Liberia requires a 350-day wait, but at the Calderón Guardia Hospital, only 164 days.
Meanwhile, for cardiovascular surgery, the wait is 640 days at Hospital México and 213 days at the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
Amidst all this, some patients suffer terrible pain or end up dying due to a lack of care.
According to the CCSS website, the wait time (as of today) for an outpatient consultation is 390 days; For a surgical consult is is 432 days.
Many Costa Ricans dealing with long waits often turn to private insurance to get quicker access to private healthcare.