Although Costa Rica offers free healthcare services for emergency care - including to children, pregnant and lactating women - many asylum-seekers and refugees face recurrent healthcare needs to address severe or chronic illnesses. Access to healthcare continues to be consistently identified as a critical need in dialogues with people forced to flee in Costa Rica.
In participatory assessments, UNHCR has identified challenges in accessing health services to address both chronic and acute illnesses, as well as mental health situations and services to promote sexual and reproductive health.
PARTNERSHIP FOR ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE: UNHCR-CCSS
Project description
In 2020, UNHCR and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) signed an agreement to provide monthly spaces for health insurance for forcibly displaced and stateless people. The agreement has enabled UNHCR to support the Government of Costa Rica by providing over USD 9.4 million since 2020 for the CCSS to respond to pressing health needs faced by the most vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees. Because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agreement was extended through an addendum until March 2021. In 2024, a fifth agreement was signed allowing 5,000 monthly insurance spaces throughout the year.
Although Costa Rica offers free health services in case of emergencies, people forced to flee still face health needs, particularly for the treatment of serious or chronic diseases. In order to mitigate this gap and cover those who are most vulnerable, since 2020, UNHCR supports the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) to provide health insurance quotas for refugees and asylum seekers who are not covered by existing social protection schemes. This scheme promotes effective access to the right to health and avoids the creation of parallel systems.