Costa Rica stands out as a growing market with great upside for international private medical insurance (IPMI), according to Jeiko Navarro, general manager for Costa Rica at World of America.
Navarro, who has more than two decades experience in the sector, highlighted factors such as a strong, stable economy and the nation implementing special measures to welcome multinational businesses as key reasons for positivity.
However, universal issues such as rapidly escalating premiums and the sustainability of the market remain concerns for Navarro and his clients.
Navarro was speaking to Health & Protection following the World of America 2026 Convention which brought together leading agents and brokers with insurers and providers from across the Latin America region.
Overall, Navarro (pictured) believes the IPMI market in Costa Rica is buoyant with a period of maturity and expansion ongoing.
“We are seeing awareness among professionals, entrepreneurs and corporate executives who understand that international health coverage is not simply a luxury,” he says.
This was despite the country having a strong public healthcare system
“Latin America still has some significant gaps in public healthcare systems and even in countries with strong private systems such as Costa Rica, access to global medical networks and high complexity treatments abroad is becoming more valuable,” he adds.
Multinational companies heading to Costa Rica
There is growth across many areas of the market but the corporate sector in particular appears to be surging ahead due to favourable conditions and wanting to keep and attract staff.
“Both individual and corporate elements are growing here, but in my experience, we’re seeing particularly strong growth on the corporate side,” Navarro continues.
“That’s because we have a lot of transnational companies that see Costa Rica as an interesting market.
“Companies are using international insurance and life insurance as a part of talent retention. “It’s an important strategy for them along with executive protection – for key executives and highly specialised professionals, access to global healthcare is becoming an important benefit and it’s part of the compensation package.”
One of the reasons Costa Rica’s IPMI sector is seeing strong interest from corporates is the draw of multinational companies to special development zones with favourable tax and other plans.
“We have a lot of new employers and new employees in Costa Rica and these organisations are trying to get more technical skills because our population has good technical skills,” Navarro explains.
“So for those companies our market is very attractive.”
There is a belief this will continue thanks to governmental continuity with a new president already positioned to take over in May and hopes that as a result the economy and currency will remain stable and conductive for businesses for the next four-year term.
‘Health, wealth and financial stability’
And for the future Navarro expects the IPMI market in Costa Rica to continue growing among professionals, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders and become more inter-twined with other financial advice.
“There will be greater integration between financial planning and health protection strategies,” he says.
“Clients are beginning to understand that health, wealth and financial stability are deeply connected.
“I act like an adviser with my clients all the time because most people are thinking about wealth and accumulation but sometimes they miss a very important point that is the risk management.
“When you talk about risk management, you’re talking about health insurance, life insurance and so on, because if you have a medical condition or unfortunately a death, your family and your business will be impacted in financial terms.
“So before you create wealth and have an accumulation, it’s important to have your protection in those terms, so I try to teach my clients how to manage or how to have a healthy financial life.”
This approach widely reflects life in the Latin America market where Navarro acknowledges that everybody knows each other so “you conduct business with your friends”.
“You always have to be working for your clients because they are your friends most of the time,” he says.
“I have the image that in the rest of the world the business relationship to the clients is between insurance companies and the clients. However here in Latin America, it’s quite different because the relationship is person to person.”
Customers need to be spoiled
A result of that tight personal relationship and cultural approach is that insurers need to offer products and services that reflect the greater demand for personal interactions.
As Navarro notes, customers in Latin America need to be spoiled a little more and given more customised or assistance services.
But they also need to recognise the economic and financial realities of the region and keep products sustainable.
This subject of premium inflation, cost control and sustainability is a common thread across the world and keenly felt in Latin America.
“Premium increases are a big concern for our clients all the time,” he says.
“It’s always a challenge to renew the policy with clients – every time you have to renew a policy it’s like making a new business sale, because you have to convince your clients to maintain their policy.”
He adds that clients understand the medical inflation and age changes, but the size of the increases can become so overwhelming that it can become off-putting or lead them to reconsider.
Ultimately, the prospect of facing a medical bill potentially reaching into millions of dollars or the ability to go to higher quality facilities and receive otherwise unavailable treatment is often the key deciding factor.
And as Navarro notes, this is where the advice and guidance relationship are critical and why the IPMI market is continuing to see growing demand in Costa Rica and much of Latin America.