> All adults have tests and follow-up visits to prevent and treat everything from iron deficiency to H.I.V. It’s all free. If people don’t show up for their appointments, she makes sure their team finds out why and figures out what can be done.
It's common sense why they have better results and outcomes than we do here... Our system is optimized for capitalistic profit. I've got insanely good insurance and I still have no idea how screwed I am if I go to the doctor or especially a hospital. Although I've only had one major billing snafu years back I have real anxiety about going to the doctor here.
And hell, even if I go my PCP is going to be stuck in an "all or nothing" mentality where it's either OTC or getting in their own conflict with my insurer... ie: "If I can't justify this test with your insurer..."
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Costa Rica's model is better than America's. The reason for this is because it's not optimized for profit, it's designed from the ground up to optimize for patient outcome.
Recent New Yorker article looking at the "Costa Rica model"[0] raised this point as well. America, by contrast to Costa Rica, has a very weak public health sector and infrastructure, and this leads to a real weakness when focusing on preventable illnesses and issues.
[0]: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/30/costa-ricans-l...