Health Vacations and Immigration

It used to be that international "snow birds" would return home for healthcare. This response is less and less prevalent. From an expatriate living in Mexico:

When I came here a decade ago, people would disappear and the story would be that they went back to the US, because of health problems, to avail themselves of Medicaid/Medicare. However, now Americans are showing up here to get healthcare, especially dental, plastic surgery, and outpatient procedures. They can pay cash and still come out well ahead of paying deductibles in the US. 

Billing for example is simplified.

One of the major differences I’ve observed is the amount of paperwork here is much lower. I had bypass surgery in the US and got a 42 page bill in the mail. It was just for the blood work over 6 days. When I had hip surgery in a private Mexican hospital, the bill was 2 pages. One listed the 6 doctors that saw me and the other page listed the hospital charges. Neither one was a full page.

Read the whole article. 

I am considering immigration myself for these very reasons. I figure I can buy health insurance in Russia, for example, and live quite well on the money I would save. I pay that much here. Personally what I pay here for health care is a huge portion of my income. A few years ago it was actually greater than my income for that year. A personal example is that my wife recently got a MRI. The co-pay was $800. I have no idea what the insurance company was charged. She had a similar procedure in Russia a few years ago. She had no Russian insurance as she is not a resident. It cost less than $100. 

To be frank, I doubt Trump will do what needs to be done. "Hope and Change" is why both Obama and Trump were elected. Obama failed to deliver. Trump will too. For one suggestion of what needs to be done, click here. 

So what happens in 2017 will determine where I live in 2018.