Costa Rica Health News – Do you ever wonder why more and more people are travelling to Costa Rica and other dental destinations to get their dental procedures like dental implants performed? The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, was drafted in order to help millions of Americans get medical insurance at an affordable cost. It aims to alleviate the difficulty Americans had to go through to get the medical attention they need.
Now the idea and intention are good, however, something went wrong along the way. Instead of improving the situation and adding more services to the newly offered medical packages, Obamacare took away the dental coverage Americans enjoyed with the old health care plan they had.
Let us take a closer look. Obamacare empowered each state to devise its own plan and list of health benefits that covers ten basic necessities: emergency services, ambulatory patient services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs, rehabilitative and rehabilitative services and devices, laboratory services, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, and pediatric services which includes oral and vision care. As you can see, the list did not mention dental care coverage. Why? Because the Obama administration does not consider dentistry a major health care field so they did not include it on the table when Obamacare was negotiated.
On July 13th, 2013, the Wall Street Journal Market Watch released an article saying: “While more Americans will likely gain access to medical care when the law goes into effect next year, the number that can afford a visit to the dentist for a filling, root canal or checkup may actually decrease.”
As expected, Americans rapidly reacted to the new law and started taking keen interest in dental tourism. The number of US citizens visiting Web sites offering dental tourism packages dramatically increased, which implies that they are worried and scared that they will not be able to get reasonably priced dental treatment in the United States. As a result, the implementation of Obamacare fueled the already steadily growing medical and dental tourism industry. This is seen in the number of people pouring out of the country to go to nearby medical and dental tourism locations like Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and other popular destination spots in Latin America.
Aside from the obvious reason, which is price difference, Americans’ confidence in medical and dental tourism spots bolstered because of the accreditation hospitals from the said countries received from the private international accrediting agency Joint Commission International. Patients visiting hospitals that got accredited by the said agency can expect above average medical and dental care at a fraction of a cost compared to treatment done in the United States.
To sum it up, the impeccable quality of services and the low prices available abroad will lead more patients to travel for treatment in the following years. With some seventy-six million baby boomers turning up at an age where more health care will be necessary, and with Obamacare taking full effect in 2014, the practice of medical tourism is likely to skyrocket whatever the hurdle is in the next few years.
There is a reason that more and more people are looking to get their dental work accomplished on a dental vacation.
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There is a lot of information to digest when it comes to preparing for your dental vacation to Costa Rica. Entry requirements to Costa Rica, how to find a dentist or dental clinic, what to expect for your specific procedure and so much more.
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