The Top 5 Countries In Health Care:

[Dr.Santiago]

Last month, International Living released its Global Retirement Index for 2014, a list of countries ranked according to the efficiency of their health care system and how well they make for retirement destinations. Here are the top 5:

5. Mexico

Medical tourism has ballooned south-of-the-border because of the United States’ increasingly high prescription drug costs. Health insurance costs roughly $300 per year in Mexico, with private plans costing more but still far less than what its neighbor to the north charges.

Despite its recent status as the most obese country in the world, Mexico only ranks a handful of places below the U.S. in life expectancy, with female life expectancy still exceeding ours. And if for whatever reason you find yourself in the hospital in Mexico, be grateful you’re only paying $35 for the night, not $1,700 like you would in America.

For the full story click on the link below:

http://www.medicaldaily.com/top-5-countries-health-care-low-cost-prescriptions-and-expertise-make-happy-healthy-citizens-271188

[Kyle]

Those costs only apply if you are on IMSS and most expats can't get it. Private pay is closer to $100.00 a night, still way cheaper than US. but private insurance here in MX is not cheap, especially as you get older.

[cookj5]

Those costs only apply if you are on IMSS and most expats can't get it. Private pay is closer to $100.00 a night, still way cheaper than US. but private insurance here in MX is not cheap, especially as you get older.

However much is charged for private health insurance premiums in Mexico, it doesn't remotely compare to the $1000/month I was paying for Kaiser Pemanete HMO in the US when my wife and I decided to flee the country as health care refugees. And, of course, the $1k/month doesn't include the co-pays and deductibles.

[Joco]

Those costs only apply if you are on IMSS and most expats can't get it. Private pay is closer to $100.00 a night, still way cheaper than US. but private insurance here in MX is not cheap, especially as you get older.

I wasn't aware that IMSS had any co-pays or deductibles.

The are many hospitals in cities other than Guadalajara that are less expensive than Guadalajara hospitals.

[Fred Habacht]

With a low deductible and at the age of 75, I pay 1923.00us a year for Mexican Met Life...other plans like Bupa are cheaper

[gary c.]

With a low deductible and at the age of 75, I pay 1923.00us a year for Mexican Met Life...other plans like Bupa are cheaper

Have you had good experiences using it? If so, who did you work with to get this insurance?

Carol

[Kyle]

Barbara. Please share with us your agent. I never found health ins. Here that cheap. Would love to talk to your agent

[Fred Habacht]

My wife is currently using it and the company has set up direct billing so we do not have to come out of pocket...the agent has been with her every step of the way. We use Bellon and their office is on the other side of the road from SuperLake. As for not finding it so cheap...I am converting from pesos to dollars at 13 to one and using my capital one credit card which gives us back 1 and a half percent bonus...so 1923 is 24999.00 pesos or 49998.00 for the 2 of us and she is only 70 yrs old which affects the payment as hers costs less than mine...approx. Please note we pay at one time for the year and have a deductible and co-pay for using higher rated hospitals if we wish to use them. If you have any pre-existing conditions or you try to join after your 70th birthday then your costs will be higher or you will not be able to get the policy at all. It is always wise to see a professional agent rather then to believe most of what you read on the forums.

[RVGRINGO]

I think Barbara has had the insurance from a younger age. At an advanced age, it probably is not available as a new policy.

[Fred Habacht]

You are correct...we bought the policies three month before my 70th birthday...so that was about 5 yrs ago. Neither one of us could get it now but we could get BUPA which takes you up to a much later birthday.

[RickS]

These cost here in Mexico seem very high to me. I pay $205 per month in the US, includes prescription card, have medicare and an supplemental plan, with medicare deductible and $300 for the other. No co-pays. Prescriptions run about $ 3.50 - $10 for 30 days and $20 for 90 days. For me, I don't see any medical advantages here in Mexico. Maybe I'm missing something?

While not trying to be argumentative, this may be a slight case of apples and oranges..... You are on US Medicare (with a private Supplement). To get that you (and your employer) paid into the FICA fund 'throughout' your life for Plan A and you now pay $104/mo for Plan B. Plan D (drugs) is heavily supplemented by the US government. And you must go NOB for your services which would be an added cost not to mention a disruption to one's life.

If you are suggesting that medical life after 65 for a US resident compares favorably with SOB medicine costs for a US resident SOB 'going it alone', then I would have to agree at some level.

And/but if one includes other things, like dental, in a discussion of 'medical care', then NOB far exceeds SOB costs... and quality is similar in my experiences for such things as cleaning, X-rays, filing, extraction, crowns, bridges, implants and surgery. I have also found the same to be true, with even larger price differences, with 'cosmetic' procedures for the face and eyes.

And I don't think there has been a doctor house-call in the US since about the 1950s......

[gringal]

Just to add a few other things: We are healthy older adults who are not on any long term prescription drugs and we pay out of pocket for our medical needs. We have had IMSS as a disaster backup plan but have not used it in the last seven years. We dropped Part B in Medicare since we can't use it in Mexico and have no intention of returning to the U.S. for medical care.

Our doctor visits to a General Practitioner are $250 pesos.

Specialist (like ophthalmologist) are $600 pesos

So far, our "medical savings plan" has grown from the above practices over the last ten years in Mexico. The amount is well over what a medical HMO plus Medicare Part B would have cost us in the U.S., even without Plan D.

This would not be true for everyone, of course. Depends on your personal physical condition and of course, your bank account.

[bwhite1948]

However much is charged for private health insurance premiums in Mexico, it doesn't remotely compare to the $1000/month I was paying for Kaiser Pemanete HMO in the US when my wife and I decided to flee the country as health care refugees. And, of course, the $1k/month doesn't include the co-pays and deductibles.

Just out of curiosity, have you priced what your insurance costs would be now in the US with the Affordable Care Act? You may be pleasantly surprised.

[lakeside7]

Just to add a few other things: We are healthy older adults who are not on any long term prescription drugs and we pay out of pocket for our medical needs. We have had IMSS as a disaster backup plan but have not used it in the last seven years. We dropped Part B in Medicare since we can't use it in Mexico and have no intention of returning to the U.S. for medical care.

Our doctor visits to a General Practitioner are $250 pesos.

Specialist (like ophthalmologist) are $600 pesos

So far, our "medical savings plan" has grown from the above practices over the last ten years in Mexico. The amount is well over what a medical HMO plus Medicare Part B would have cost us in the U.S., even without Plan D.

This would not be true for everyone, of course. Depends on your personal physical condition and of course, your bank account.

Like many other folk I know they also "Have IMSS as a disaster backup"...I wonder what you and the others define a disaster??

[gringal]

In answer to defining a medical disaster: long term, likely terminal cancer. Any problem that even three weeks in a hospital won't take care of. Anything that is likely to cost over $50 grand, U.S. Others, but that's the general idea.