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Health Care Costs in Lakeside ,Mexico


lakeside7

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On page 15 of this week Guadalajara Reporter , February 16th-22nd,  is a story by Carol Kaufman about a North American  couple who returned to Lakeside from Portland Oregon in, order to obtain "affordable" medical care for the wife.

What I find very interesting is the reported cost for full time care at home , 1 lady during the evening and 1 lady during the day......and the cost $15 usd per day (say 285 pesos)

We have many purist here who quick to complain about the exploitation of undocumented Mexicans working NOB for "slave" wages....I wonder if this a typical reason so many wish to go North and earn a "living wage"

I am sure the purpose of the story was to high lite the difference in "Health Care Cost" in Mexico and the USA (the average monthly  nursing home cost at Lakeside , is say  $900-$1800 usd)

Can some please explain to me where is the balance between "finding a good deal"  and the "rules of morality". 

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Morality is a private choice.

 $1,995 pesos cash per week or $8,645 per month in Mexico for this service is acceptable for them. IMO. Free meals and perks usually are included. Sitting around and watching TV. etc. My mother in law had 4 of them before she passed.

Brick and cement laborers get about the same but work usually 5 1/2 days not 7 days per week. They work much harder and no free meals or perks.

Possibly you don't know what they do compared to where you came from and maybe your judging this is inappropriate without first knowing "what it is".

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18 minutes ago, AlanMexicali said:

Morality is a private choice.

 $1,995 pesos cash per week or $8,645 per month in Mexico for this service is acceptable for them. IMO. Free meals and perks usually are included. Sitting around and watching TV. etc. My mother in law had 4 of them before she passed.

Brick and cement laborers get about the same but work usually 5 1/2 days not 7 days per week. They work much harder and no free meals or perks.

Possibly you don't know what they do compared to where you came from and maybe your judging this is inappropriate without first knowing "what it is".

Thank you for your observations...may I quote you when my maid and gardener ask for their next raise.

You will not find any Peons willing to work for 285 pesos a day at Lakeside...yes maybe kids who are chemically dependent waiting to steal anything from the site for more drugs

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11 minutes ago, lakeside7 said:

Thank you for your observations...may I quote you when my maid and gardener ask for their next raise.

You will not find any Peons willing to work for 285 pesos a day at Lakeside...yes maybe kids who are chemically dependent waiting to steal anything from the site for more drugs

You have no FULL TIME maid or gardener so don't compare apples to oranges. Full time is not a cleaning lady a few hours per week or a gardener for even less hours per week. Full time is all the time and the salaries reflects that.

Don't be condescending towards workers who need to fit into their enviroment and work with the skills they have to make an honestl living without some people looking down on them. Some of them can tell.

 

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23 minutes ago, lakeside7 said:

Thank you for your observations...may I quote you when my maid and gardener ask for their next raise.

You will not find any Peons willing to work for 285 pesos a day at Lakeside...yes maybe kids who are chemically dependent waiting to steal anything from the site for more drugs

I don't know where you get the idea that 285p per day is the minimum rate that "peons" will accept. Quite apart from the slur to our Mexican neighbours there are many people from Jocotopec to Mezcala who work for less. Especially in the construction industry. That is Lakeside.

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27 minutes ago, dave0415 said:

I don't know where you get the idea that 285p per day is the minimum rate that "peons" will accept. Quite apart from the slur to our Mexican neighbours there are many people from Jocotopec to Mezcala who work for less. Especially in the construction industry. That is Lakeside.

No slur intended.

Let me send yo a private message so that you can send me a list of reliable people "who will work for less"........ or maybe better... you can publish your list for all to see and so help reduce the unemployment rate at Lakeside.

Strange all my building contractor contacts tell me good labor is NOT available...which I can personal voucher for when my gas tank, water pump and gas stove went missing!!!! so I guess I do speak from experience.

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If you want to overpay, based on what you think a local worker should make, based on only your awareness of THE COST OF LIVING UP NORTH, then go right ahead and continue to ruin this economy lakeside. Or, pay what people expect to be paid (by asking around instead of being judgmental of a whole country), and keep things flying right.

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there is a job pick up site west of austin in dripping springs, dozens of men go there each morning looking for work. they want 100 dollars USD, to get in the truck and work for any one for 8 hours or so. also my mexican nephew, who is legal with a US passport and social security number just made 600 dollars working 26 hours for a re modeler that hired him, 23USD per hour. i was surprised but pleased. thats the reality around austin.

most of the nursing homes lakeside pay  about 1500 pesos per week for a nurse/aide. 

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When my partner was sick and needed full-time caregivers, I was paying 1200 pesos per day (two twelve hour shifts).  They didn't do much, except for give him his pills when needed, and adjust his pillow.  Most of the time, they were sitting in a chair, texting on their cellphones.  We had difficulty communicating with them, because most of them didn't speak or understand any English at all, and our Spanish was limited.

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I think I have some experience in this area. First big difference in caregiver and Nurse. We pay 500 mxn per day for a Nurse plus they have carte blanche to the kitchen. So 500 plus meals. 12 hour days they need meals. I also pay bonuses.  Not bad money!  Caregivers lower pay plus meals. We also had a problem with help, texting on phones. So we put a box on the wall they put phones there. When it is break time it is so funny watching them get caught up.

We also try to make work fun. Lots of laughing, joking.

 

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3 hours ago, vetteforron said:

I think I have some experience in this area. First big difference in caregiver and Nurse. We pay 500 mxn per day for a Nurse plus they have carte blanche to the kitchen. So 500 plus meals. 12 hour days they need meals. I also pay bonuses.  Not bad money!  Caregivers lower pay plus meals. We also had a problem with help, texting on phones. So we put a box on the wall they put phones there. When it is break time it is so funny watching them get caught up.

We also try to make work fun. Lots of laughing, joking.

 

So it sounds like I was getting ripped off with the money I was paying for caregivers.  They weren't nurses, and as I stated before, we couldn't even communicate very well with them.

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43 minutes ago, suegarn said:

So it sounds like I was getting ripped off with the money I was paying for caregivers.  They weren't nurses, and as I stated before, we couldn't even communicate very well with them.

Yes it does.  You probably got them through an agency and that person doubled what she was paying the ladies.

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We have had several construction projects over the years and wages haven't varied much in the past 10 years. Laborers get $1000-1200p per week, 5-8.5hr days. Maestro gets about $2000 per same week. 

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Currently I have 2 masons working for me. They have been with me for the past 9 months. In the beginning I had a "construction manager", he paid them 1,800.00 pesos a week (Monday to Saturday 1 pm). Laid off the construction manager after 4 months and gave each a guy a 500.00 pesos raise. After about 13 years on and off in Mexico, I figured out that costs in mexico are about 1/5 the cost NOB. I also speak good enough Spanish which is a big plus.

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2 hours ago, suegarn said:

So it sounds like I was getting ripped off with the money I was paying for caregivers.  They weren't nurses, and as I stated before, we couldn't even communicate very well with them.

Maybe not. Remember we are located near Jocotepec. Not gringolandia. Wages are slightly lower here costs are less plus we are a business and they will have a job for a long time and other benefits.

Another point when a person is ill you probably did not have time to shop around you made a decision at the time with information you had at that time.

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We have a young man who, at his request, does general chores for us for 60 pesos an hour for whatever hours we need plus 75 pesos to wash our car and clean it inside.  He has just left for a 3 week job out of town where he will get "about the same" , full time, 6 days a week.  So we are paying him "market rate".

It reminds me of a story from my mother.  During WWII my father was posted to a city in the South; we had lived in New York.  She asked the other wives what to pay a maid.  She said that what was being paid was much too little, and she paid what she thought was a living wage.  The woman came to work on Mon., Tue., and Wed.,  but then not again until the next Monday.  When my mother asked where she was, the maid said that she had earned enough for the week and she came back when she needed more money.  My mother lowered her pay to what everyone else was paying and everyone was happy.

MORAL:  Find out what is appropriate for the local market and pay accordingly.  You can be generous with bonuses and Christmas stuff.  We pay our maid the local rate, but my wife often has some good food that she sends on with her.

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"We have many purist here who quick to complain about the exploitation of undocumented Mexicans working NOB for "slave" wages....I wonder if this a typical reason so many wish to go North and earn a "living wage"

There is a basic difference between an undocumented worker who goes north to find work and a local worker who is hired by an expat. The undocumented worker, because of his/her status, is easily exploited and often is paid below the going rate. That is why a lot of people up north employ the undocumented. Sometimes unscrupulous employers simply refuse to pay after the work is done and the worker has no recourse. He/she can hardly complain to the authorities.

When an expat here hires a local person, the worker has the option to accept the job or look for another at the wage he/she wants. If there is a dispute over wages owed, the worker has recourse to Mexican authorities who can enforce surprisingly strong Mexican labor laws. Now, this doesn't mean that every undocumented worker up north is brutally exploited, nor does it mean that every Mexican worker down here is able to fully exercise his/her rights. But, on balance, the local workers can ask for the wages they want and have recourse if they are treated badly, while the undocumented folks can't.

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On 2/16/2019 at 4:57 PM, AlanMexicali said:

You have no FULL TIME maid or gardener so don't compare apples to oranges. Full time is not a cleaning lady a few hours per week or a gardener for even less hours per week. Full time is all the time and the salaries reflects that.

Don't be condescending towards workers who need to fit into their enviroment and work with the skills they have to make an honestl living without some people looking down on them. Some of them can tell.

 

 

 

Alan have you by chance listened to Dr, David Truly, presentation to The Open Circle , last week. A recording is available under the sub group Charitable events . I would be interested in your thoughts and if his observations on occurrence/change is happening in your area?? 

His Subject "The Rise and Fall of a Foreign Retirement Community in Mexico, Ajijic".

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22 hours ago, Colo-Rick said:

MORAL:  Find out what is appropriate for the local market and pay accordingly.  You can be generous with bonuses and Christmas stuff.  We pay our maid the local rate, but my wife often has some good food that she sends on with her.

On many jobs that we need help with,  we ask around for the going wage to our extended Mexican family and friends, and for suggestions of people who can do that work. Then, when we get a candidate, we tell (it)how much we are paying for the work (after all we are offering (it) work for our money) and (it) decides to accept or not. You might be surprised that many Mexicans think they can get 2-4 times the normal rate from extranjeros, or maybe not.

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On 2/16/2019 at 6:42 PM, wanderer said:

there is a job pick up site west of austin in dripping springs, dozens of men go there each morning looking for work. they want 100 dollars USD, to get in the truck and work for any one for 8 hours or so. also my mexican nephew, who is legal with a US passport and social security number just made 600 dollars working 26 hours for a re modeler that hired him, 23USD per hour. i was surprised but pleased. thats the reality around austin.

most of the nursing homes lakeside pay  about 1500 pesos per week for a nurse/aide. 

Also west of Austin in the Hill Country, I know a man who has a construction/general repair business who works several illegals. He starts them at $7/hr, and after a month, if they are dependable, he gives them $7.50/hour. never has a problem getting help, as the local DQ and Whataburger only pay close to $9/hr. I had 2 illegals work 2 weekends for me and we paid $7 per hour. If I wanted the insurance and guarantee for the job, I would have to pay $23/hr. for a licensed worker.

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Dear ones, I hope I will be able to improve your health through alternative medicine such as Homeophaty , Clinic Nutrition and Biomagnetism .

Make your appointment at Farmacia Unica 376-7660523.

Welcome !

 Best wishes

Alejandra Collignon and Martin.  

like our facebook page for news and promotions . https://www.facebook.com/Farmacia-%C3%9Anica-1176424072493497/

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