Author Topic: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)  (Read 1981 times)

Hazcat

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Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« on: September 01, 2009, 12:28:07 PM »
Mexico's health care lures Americans

By Chris Hawley, USA TODAY
MEXICO CITY — It sounds almost too good to be true: a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year.

To get it, you just have to move to Mexico.

As the United States debates an overhaul of its health care system, thousands of American retirees in Mexico have quietly found a solution of their own, signing up for the health care plan run by the Mexican Social Security Institute.

The system has flaws, the facilities aren't cutting-edge, and the deal may not last long because the Mexican government said in a recent report that it is "notorious" for losing money. But for now, retirees say they're getting a bargain.

"It was one of the primary reasons I moved here," said Judy Harvey of Prescott Valley, who now lives in Alamos, Sonora. "I couldn't afford health care in the United States. … To me, this is the best system that there is."

It's unclear how many Americans use IMSS, but with between 40,000 and 80,000 U.S. retirees living in Mexico, the number probably runs "well into the thousands," said David Warner, a public policy professor at the University of Texas.

"They take very good care of us," said Jessica Moyal, 59, of Hollywood, Fla., who now lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a popular retirement enclave for Americans.

The IMSS plan is primarily designed to support Mexican taxpayers who have been paying into the system for decades, and officials say they don't want to be overrun by bargain-hunting foreigners.

"If they started flooding down here for this, it wouldn't be sustainable," said Javier Lopez Ortiz, IMSS director in San Miguel de Allende.

Pre-existing conditions aren't covered for the first two years, and some newer medicines and implants are not free. IMSS hospitals don't have frills such as televisions or in-room phones, and they often require patients to bring family members to help with bathing and other non-medical tasks. Most doctors and nurses speak only Spanish, and Mexico's overloaded court system doesn't provide much recourse if something goes wrong.

But the medical care doesn't cost a dime after paying the annual fee, and it is usually good, retirees and health experts say. Warner said most American retirees enroll in IMSS as a form of cheap insurance against medical emergencies, while using private doctors or traveling back to the USA for less urgent care. Medicare, the U.S. insurance plan for retirees, cannot be used outside the United States.

Program prompts relocation

The program has helped people such as Ron and Jemmy Miller of Shawano, Wis. They decided to retire early, but knew affording health care was going to be a problem.

Ron was a self-employed contractor, and Jemmy was a loan officer at a bank. At ages 61 and 52, respectively, they were too young to qualify for Medicare, but too old to risk not having health insurance.

"We knew that we couldn't retire without Medicare," Jemmy Miller said. "We're pretty much in Mexico now because we can't afford health care in the States."

The couple learned about IMSS from Mexico guidebooks and the Internet. They moved to the central city of Irapuato in 2006, got residency visas as foreign retirees, and then enrolled in IMSS.

The IMSS system is similar to an HMO in the United States, Jemmy Miller said. Patients are assigned a primary care physician and given a passport-size ID booklet that includes records of appointments. The doctor can refer patients to specialists, a bigger hospital or one of the IMSS specialty hospitals in cities such as Guadalajara or Mexico City.

In 2007, Ron Miller got appendicitis and had emergency surgery at the local IMSS hospital. He was in the hospital for about a week and had a double room to himself. The food was good, the nurses were attentive, and doctors stopped by three or four times a day to check on him, he said. At the end of it all, there was no bill, just an entry in the ID booklet.

The Millers may soon move back to the United States, but Jemmy Miller said they want to try to maintain the IMSS coverage. "If something big really comes up, we'd probably come back to Mexico," she said.

Different levels of care offered

IMSS is one of several public health systems in Mexico, each with its own network of hospitals and clinics. The program, which was founded in 1943, is funded by a combination of payroll deductions, employer contributions and government funds. It covers 50.8 million workers.

IMSS facilities are a step up from the state hospitals, but not as advanced as Mexico's private hospitals, which are often world-class, said Curtis Page, a Tempe, Ariz., doctor and co-author of a book about health care in Mexico.

Most patients seem grateful nonetheless. When Michael Kirkpatrick, 63, of Austin, fell off his motorcycle near his home in San Miguel de Allende, IMSS surgeons gave him a stainless-steel artificial hip.

There was no physical rehabilitation after the surgery, just a checkup a few weeks later.

"There was not the kind of follow-through and therapy that you would expect if you were doing this in the first world," Kirkpatrick said. "But it was satisfactory. The hip feels good."

Bob Story, 75, of St. Louis, had prostate-reduction surgery at an IMSS hospital in Mazatlán and discovered that patients were expected to bring their own pillows. It was a small price to pay, he said, for a surgery that would have cost thousands of dollars back home.

"I would say it's better than any health plan I've had in the States," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-31-mexico-health-care_N.htm
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tombogan03884

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2009, 12:33:06 PM »
RIGGGHHHT    ::)

2HOW

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2009, 01:24:01 PM »
Americans have been going to Mexico for years, since the FDA and the AMA were slow to sanction drugs that were commonly being used around the world. Its a Sad thing that we as a nation who say were progressive are the last to make available a drug that will help a person. On a personal note , my mother in law who has cancer has seen a specialist at Thompson Cancer center and he hooked her up with a supplier of a drug that costs 5400.00 a month, she only has to pay 3.00 co-pay wow. there are still some good people in the health business. A young doctor who has his priority's in order.  There is still hope.
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tt11758

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2009, 01:24:59 PM »
This is simply payback for all the illegals from Mexico that are taxing our health care system.
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fightingquaker13

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2009, 01:38:16 PM »
Plus 10 on the getting them back for the cost of illegals they encouage to come here. But folks do go to Mx. for cheap healthcare. Sadly you get what you pay for. There was local girl not long ago who went down for one of those tummy tucks because it was only about $2500 there. She came home dead. Caveat emptor.
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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #5 on: Today at 04:02:05 PM »

2HOW

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2009, 01:49:05 PM »
Plus 10 on the getting them back for the cost of illegals they encouage to come here. But folks do go to Mx. for cheap healthcare. Sadly you get what you pay for. There was local girl not long ago who went down for one of those tummy tucks because it was only about $2500 there. She came home dead. Caveat emptor.
FQ13
You go there for last chance medical care, not for tummy tucks. Sad thing , but you do get what you pay for in some instances.
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Kid Shelleen

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2009, 06:29:56 PM »
Mexico has a very interesting socilized healthcare system. There is the low cost public system, but there is also a much better 100% cash private system. The private hospitals can be very nice, as in mahogany, waterford crystal chandeliers and state of the art equipment.

The private system may become a refuge, and money maker, for Americans that can afford to pay, should Obamacare pass.
“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

Thomas Jefferson, 1787

fightingquaker13

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2009, 11:20:33 PM »
Kid, I hope you are not speaking the truth. All I signed up for when I voted against W's GOP (and yes for BO) was the chance to buy into (with my own money) the federal employee heath care system, since a pre-existing condition makes me uninsureable oterwise (hell I had a Blue Cross agent actually laugh in my face, and I was laughing with him, we had a beer later). If I wind up having to go to Pedro's South of The Border Hospital, I will be less than pleased.
FQ13

tombogan03884

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2009, 11:24:02 PM »
Kid, I hope you are not speaking the truth. All I signed up for when I voted against W's GOP (and yes for BO) was the chance to buy into (with my own money) the federal employee heath care system, since a pre-existing condition makes me uninsureable oterwise (hell I had a Blue Cross agent actually laugh in my face, and I was laughing with him, we had a beer later). If I wind up having to go to Pedro's South of The Border Hospital, I will be less than pleased.
FQ13

Start learning Spanish, it's not going to be the Federal plan, it will be Medicare.

Kid Shelleen

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Re: Americans go to Mexico for health care! (so says USAToday)
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2009, 11:59:36 AM »
Kid, I hope you are not speaking the truth. All I signed up for when I voted against W's GOP (and yes for BO) was the chance to buy into (with my own money) the federal employee heath care system, since a pre-existing condition makes me uninsureable oterwise (hell I had a Blue Cross agent actually laugh in my face, and I was laughing with him, we had a beer later). If I wind up having to go to Pedro's South of The Border Hospital, I will be less than pleased.
FQ13
FQ,
I'm not sure what part of my statement bothered you. No one will be forced to go to Mexico for healthcare.

I am simply stating that if Obamacare leads to rationing and delays in care, some Americans may chose to avail themselves of Mexicos private system. The private physicians are well trained and the private hospitals are very nice and they are well equiped with state of the art MRIs, CTs, etc. The problem with this "private" Mexican option is that it is an all cash system. It is expensive, but if you can afford it, and if you wish to avoid rationing, it could be a viable alternative.

This could also be a very lucrative situation for Mexico. R&D money could shift to their market and the wealthy could pump millions into their, spa like, luxury, hospitals.
“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

Thomas Jefferson, 1787

 

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