This is going to come out completely wrong, but the fact that they both lived on their own terms, in the country they wanted to be in, making their own decisions and not living in fear until the end has got to count for something, no? There is no "risk-free" option, there is only the risk you are willing to accept. And if you have to accept risk to live as a free human being, that's always better to take the risk. The safest place you can be is in a cage, but I think most people would rather not be there
Thanks for taking my comment in the spirit it was intended! I realise it could have come out horribly and retraumatized somebody but I'm so pleased you "got" the way I meant it, that it wasn't necessarily the complete train wreck that it looked like from the outside and that sometimes physical suffering isn't the worst kind of suffering somebody can go through. To me it looks like 3 very responsible people who chose to live life on their own terms and make their own risk assesment, lovingly stepping up for one another and supporting each other's choices, which I think is a beautiful outcome. You're clearly a lovely person 💗
I understand more than I can say succinctly. It's only now that I am myself terminal and on disability Medicaid and soon Medicare that I am actually able to care for all my medical concerns. I know that's crazy and backwards but that's Healthcare in America and I used to work in it.
Haha. Well when we lived there, the climate took a turn to the point that it was cloudy, grey, and rainy about 90% of the year. Quite depressing weather a little too often. Shame, because it's such a beautiful place otherwise. Great if you love rain!
Our visit there was glorious. The best part was being able to go anywhere and feel safe, even at night. Maybe that’s changed too; it seems to have done so most places. Sorry for your parent’s’ suffering. We were able to take care of ours. None of it is easy.
I'm so sorry about your parents. I wonder if some of what factored in to their decisions was that they didn't want to make their elderly decline a burden on you and did what they could to mitigate that. It's hard when older parents don't want to hear our good advice and we have to watch them suffer in additional ways because of it. I pray you have peace in your grief.
Do your research on the country you choose to live and plan ahead. Living in Japan the national health care is stellar and tailored to aging folks like myself. Not retired yet, I’m not leaving and will die here if I have my way …
I am so sorry for what happened. I felt really really sad reading this. I hope people understand the importance of health insurance. I come from Hongkong, where health insurance is not a requirement. I moved to Germany. There, the law requires that everyone must have health insurance. I think the system is much better. I think this is not human to not treat someone because of money. This is so unethical. No one should be worried about not getting medical help because they don't have enough money.
I retired to Mexico 30 years ago. I'm 81 now. When I arrived I bought the best Mexican insurance which only cost me $1,000/year. Since I had given up 15 years of good income in order to put some balance in my life, Mexico was an affordable retirement option. Two things about insurance I learned:
1) In Mexico your deductible is not calculated annually, it's per incident. That's either good or bad. If you have a condition that needs ongoing treatment over years, it's good. If you have several different issues, it's bad.
2) What cost me $1,000 per year when I was 51 now costs me $14,000 US per year. That's more than half my social security. Make sure you get those questions answered before selecting a policy.
We are US citizens and live in Australia but are not allowed to stay here without medical insurance -- indeed, it foolish for anyone to think they could live anywhere in the world without some sort of catastrophic health coverage.
A Mexican doctor ended your dad’s life? Is that legal there? And getting insurance before moving is a good idea BUT check the local coverage and deductibles. Is suicide covered? Please accept my condolences.
Retirees in particular shouldn’t move anywhere they either cannot afford insurance or are not entitled to whatever public healthcare is available. It’s limiting, for sure, but that’s the nature of aging and healthcare needs.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your parents and the trauma your family endured. You are brave to write about this and also kind to share your advice with others. I'm writing to add my experience to this important conversation.
I'm 64 now. Five years ago, I retired and immediately moved to Mexico. During my first two years in Mexico, I purchased an "ex-pat health insurance policy" from a well-known company - VUMI. So I did exactly what you are advising in your article. It is not bad advice, but the healthcare insurance "solution" is full of exceptions and conditions that only benefit the insurance company.
At the 18 month mark, I developed a bloodclot requiring an emergency angioplasty. VUMI denied coverage citing a BS reason. As required by the VUMI policy, I had to first file an administrative appeal. My Mexican doctor and I promptly appealed providing medical evidence, reputable medical studies, etc. to show that their denial was in bad faith. In hindsight, I am sure we were just "appealing" to a non-doctor in a VUMI cubicle whose job was to send form letters that said, "We stand by our denial decision." I got that letter. My doctor was appalled but not surprised as he sees this all the time from USA insurance companies.
According to the fine print of the VUMI policy, the ONLY possible way to appeal that administrative denial was to then sue VUMI in a Texas court. That option would cost much more than my surgery, even if I won! That was the final straw. I vowed to never buy a health insurance policy again.
Decades of saving resulted in my retiring with a 401K balance of $250K. It was intended to be my retirement "fun" money, but it is now used only for my medical needs. Every month, I add what the insurance premiums would have cost to my savings account. $250K would be quickly depleted by USA medical costs, but it goes a long way in the Mexican private-pay healthcare system. (This is a different system from the Mexican government hospital where your mother received care.)
At the 4 year mark of my Mexican life, I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments were necessary. I researched what it would cost if I returned to the USA using an ObamaCare policy. When the insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays, out-of-network fees, etc. were totaled, the cost was 2-3 times the price of paying cash in Mexico! And in the USA, I would again have an insurance company calling the shots, instead of me and my doctors. I chose to have my cancer treated in Mexico City and I received excellent care throughout that time.
The central point of your article remains true - If you can't afford to provide for medical "worst case scenarios" (through an insurance policy or savings), you cannot afford to live abroad. But I do not believe healthcare insurance policies are a reliable safety net. Follow the money: Insurance company profits go UP the more their coverage denials go UP.
This is going to come out completely wrong, but the fact that they both lived on their own terms, in the country they wanted to be in, making their own decisions and not living in fear until the end has got to count for something, no? There is no "risk-free" option, there is only the risk you are willing to accept. And if you have to accept risk to live as a free human being, that's always better to take the risk. The safest place you can be is in a cage, but I think most people would rather not be there
Thanks for that perspective, Helen. I had never considered it from that angle. My dad would have loved it and shared it.
Thanks for taking my comment in the spirit it was intended! I realise it could have come out horribly and retraumatized somebody but I'm so pleased you "got" the way I meant it, that it wasn't necessarily the complete train wreck that it looked like from the outside and that sometimes physical suffering isn't the worst kind of suffering somebody can go through. To me it looks like 3 very responsible people who chose to live life on their own terms and make their own risk assesment, lovingly stepping up for one another and supporting each other's choices, which I think is a beautiful outcome. You're clearly a lovely person 💗
Aww thanks Helen. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful words.
I am so sorry. 🫂❤️😽
I understand more than I can say succinctly. It's only now that I am myself terminal and on disability Medicaid and soon Medicare that I am actually able to care for all my medical concerns. I know that's crazy and backwards but that's Healthcare in America and I used to work in it.
Oh Joyce I'm so sorry for your situation. Sending you love.
Why would anyone move from Vancouver Island?
Haha. Well when we lived there, the climate took a turn to the point that it was cloudy, grey, and rainy about 90% of the year. Quite depressing weather a little too often. Shame, because it's such a beautiful place otherwise. Great if you love rain!
Our visit there was glorious. The best part was being able to go anywhere and feel safe, even at night. Maybe that’s changed too; it seems to have done so most places. Sorry for your parent’s’ suffering. We were able to take care of ours. None of it is easy.
I'm so sorry about your parents. I wonder if some of what factored in to their decisions was that they didn't want to make their elderly decline a burden on you and did what they could to mitigate that. It's hard when older parents don't want to hear our good advice and we have to watch them suffer in additional ways because of it. I pray you have peace in your grief.
I know for a fact that it factored in. Good point, Britt. ❤️
You are right, and I apologise.
Do your research on the country you choose to live and plan ahead. Living in Japan the national health care is stellar and tailored to aging folks like myself. Not retired yet, I’m not leaving and will die here if I have my way …
I am so sorry for what happened. I felt really really sad reading this. I hope people understand the importance of health insurance. I come from Hongkong, where health insurance is not a requirement. I moved to Germany. There, the law requires that everyone must have health insurance. I think the system is much better. I think this is not human to not treat someone because of money. This is so unethical. No one should be worried about not getting medical help because they don't have enough money.
I agree with you 100% Sindy. Should be considered a basic human right.
I retired to Mexico 30 years ago. I'm 81 now. When I arrived I bought the best Mexican insurance which only cost me $1,000/year. Since I had given up 15 years of good income in order to put some balance in my life, Mexico was an affordable retirement option. Two things about insurance I learned:
1) In Mexico your deductible is not calculated annually, it's per incident. That's either good or bad. If you have a condition that needs ongoing treatment over years, it's good. If you have several different issues, it's bad.
2) What cost me $1,000 per year when I was 51 now costs me $14,000 US per year. That's more than half my social security. Make sure you get those questions answered before selecting a policy.
Blue
We are US citizens and live in Australia but are not allowed to stay here without medical insurance -- indeed, it foolish for anyone to think they could live anywhere in the world without some sort of catastrophic health coverage.
I don't love the implication that my dead parents are foolish, Robert! Just lost my mom a few months ago. Gentler wording would have been appreciated.
A Mexican doctor ended your dad’s life? Is that legal there? And getting insurance before moving is a good idea BUT check the local coverage and deductibles. Is suicide covered? Please accept my condolences.
We'll just leave it at that, Don.
Retirees in particular shouldn’t move anywhere they either cannot afford insurance or are not entitled to whatever public healthcare is available. It’s limiting, for sure, but that’s the nature of aging and healthcare needs.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your parents and the trauma your family endured. You are brave to write about this and also kind to share your advice with others. I'm writing to add my experience to this important conversation.
I'm 64 now. Five years ago, I retired and immediately moved to Mexico. During my first two years in Mexico, I purchased an "ex-pat health insurance policy" from a well-known company - VUMI. So I did exactly what you are advising in your article. It is not bad advice, but the healthcare insurance "solution" is full of exceptions and conditions that only benefit the insurance company.
At the 18 month mark, I developed a bloodclot requiring an emergency angioplasty. VUMI denied coverage citing a BS reason. As required by the VUMI policy, I had to first file an administrative appeal. My Mexican doctor and I promptly appealed providing medical evidence, reputable medical studies, etc. to show that their denial was in bad faith. In hindsight, I am sure we were just "appealing" to a non-doctor in a VUMI cubicle whose job was to send form letters that said, "We stand by our denial decision." I got that letter. My doctor was appalled but not surprised as he sees this all the time from USA insurance companies.
According to the fine print of the VUMI policy, the ONLY possible way to appeal that administrative denial was to then sue VUMI in a Texas court. That option would cost much more than my surgery, even if I won! That was the final straw. I vowed to never buy a health insurance policy again.
Decades of saving resulted in my retiring with a 401K balance of $250K. It was intended to be my retirement "fun" money, but it is now used only for my medical needs. Every month, I add what the insurance premiums would have cost to my savings account. $250K would be quickly depleted by USA medical costs, but it goes a long way in the Mexican private-pay healthcare system. (This is a different system from the Mexican government hospital where your mother received care.)
At the 4 year mark of my Mexican life, I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments were necessary. I researched what it would cost if I returned to the USA using an ObamaCare policy. When the insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays, out-of-network fees, etc. were totaled, the cost was 2-3 times the price of paying cash in Mexico! And in the USA, I would again have an insurance company calling the shots, instead of me and my doctors. I chose to have my cancer treated in Mexico City and I received excellent care throughout that time.
The central point of your article remains true - If you can't afford to provide for medical "worst case scenarios" (through an insurance policy or savings), you cannot afford to live abroad. But I do not believe healthcare insurance policies are a reliable safety net. Follow the money: Insurance company profits go UP the more their coverage denials go UP.