Early retirement and health care for boaters

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Lexi22

Lol! I'm neither liberal nor conservative though... just looking for facts.

The blather about being different because you have empathy and caring is pure liberal...whether you admit it or not.

[Lexi22]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Health care was cheaper in the 60's because if you got cancer, you started planning the funeral.

Health care is only and only and only expensive in US. In other countries divide that cost with 40 or 50. I know medications that are 700 times cheaper overseas - including rich countries. witnessed in real life.

[Lexi22]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

The blather about being different because you have empathy and caring is pure liberal...whether you admit it or not.

i also don't want to pay the retirement of the boomers. boomers consumed all the ww2 economical boom, saved nothing, and now, expecting young people, who will never be able to enjoy retirement, to pay their bills.

[tradrockrat]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Love to pick up on Chris' comments here. What are the good places where us wealthy folks can cruise to? I've heard good things about Costa Rica, for example.

My wife and I(in all of our massive wealth...lol) are seriously considering Ecuador as our final destination after our cruising days end. Partially because of the economics and currency, partly because of their expat friendly communities, and partially because we have friends there and love the country.

[Lexi22]

Originally Posted by tradrockrat

...in all of our massive wealth...lol...

one out of five children go to bed hungry in this country; please, don't make fun of this subject.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

There is no evidence that large numbers of Canadians are going to the USA for healthcare services. There are certainly some, mostly rich, Canadians that do so. And there are individual stories that are easy to find. But facts do matter.

Here’s an actual research study which you can read if you care about actual information:

Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

Here’s the summary few lines for those who don’t want to read the whole study:

Hey Mike,
Perusing an old thread and couldn't help myself. While your statement that Canadians are not flocking to the US en mass for healthcare is arguably acceptable, for sure that people from other countries are NOT going to Canada for healthcare. Is that even possible?

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Lexi22

exactly! that's why they should not rely on the future of the younger generations. that boom could've been enough for how many generations, but all was consumed in one generation time. now, healthcare prices sky-rocketed, retirement are paid by the younger folks who won't ever have retirement, and the list goes on. where did that money go?! This issue shouldn't be a matter of argument. We should be able to, at least, chit chat about it in a civilized manner, right?

The money went into the Cold war, the Viet Nam War and putting a man on the moon. I think putting a man on the moon was worth the money, but am not willing to overlook that it was something like 4% of the US budget for a number of years.

Those decisions were made by the 2 generations that predated boomers.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Lexi22

one out of five children go to bed hungry in this country; please, don't make fun of this subject.

Drama much?

Lots of kids eat too much junk food and don't get a good balanced diet. Very few go to bed with empty stomachs.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

Hey Mike,
Perusing an old thread and couldn't help myself. While your statement that Canadians are not flocking to the US en mass for healthcare is arguably acceptable, for sure that people from other countries are NOT going to Canada for healthcare. Is that even possible?

Actually there are a lot of women coming here to give birth.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

I a non US citizen living in America. Been here since 2000 had a green card since 2011. I have only ever had 1 significant health issue, which was a kidney stone incident in 2011. I had a sunday night ER visit with a cat scan that resulted in a $5000 bill and the kidney stone diagnosis.



With a referral from the ER, I was able to get an appointment with the only urologist working in the county 2 weeks later. In the meantime, "just take your pain medication and drink lots of water".


2 weeks pass, I have my first appointment with the urologist. They take a urine sample and I meet with the doctor for about 45 seconds, who says to keep taking the pain medication and drinking lots of water... I get 2 bills, $280 for the urologist visit and another $150 lab fee for the urine sample lab tests. This goes on every 2 weeks for the next 3 months. The pain medication i am on is so strong I technically would get a DUI for driving my car to work.


After 3 months, the stone has not passed, my kidney is still in spasm, I develop a bladder infection. Feels like one is passing lava, one drop at a time. This results in another ER visit and an ultrasound. Another $3000 bill from the hospital.



The urologist finally decides, perhaps the stone is not going to pass on its own, we will go ahead and do an endoscopic process using a laser to blast the stone so it can pass. I go in for the procedure in the OR, get knocked out am in the hospital 2 hours before being revived and kicked out. The procedure failed, the stone was forced back into the kidney. Urologist put in a stent. I get a bill from the hospital for over $30k for the 2 hours.


My next visit to the urologist, I find the partner I was seeing has been terminated. I'm now seeing the partner who founded the business before he sold out to the local hospital. He reviews my chart, says the stent has to be removed immediately. Outpatient endoscopic procedure at his office, no anesthetic of any kind. To say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement, not to mention that it bled for the next 2 days... Great, another nearly $1000 bill from the urologist office + another $150 lab fee.


In the end, my deductible for my $4000/yr insurance policy (just myself) was $6500. Once I reached the $6500 limit, then the insurance company got involved, negotiated the nearly $40k in bills down to less than 1/4 of what had been invoiced with the result that after I had paid my $6500, they only had to settle the $3500 balance.


Do I think the $40k was justified for the few hours that I lay on a bed with no-one attending to me (not counting the endoscopic procedure) ? No. Is this what passes for the best care in the free world ? No, I don't think so. But its the only hospital in the county and the only urologist. I'm pretty pessimistic overall on ever getting anything for all the money that has been spent over the last 18 years. Nearly $72k + interest basically pissed away, extracted from working class people for fear one might ever end up in their grip because of some unexpected health crisis.

Sorry to hear about your horendous journey. As a person well versed in Kidney stones I will simply say that you had an unusual experience and ran into a quack urologist. What I have come to learn with specialists is that you must go in armed with some info and be ready to simply say - "Make it go away NOW".


I say this as I am 3 weeks into my battle with my new to me urologist on my latest kidney stone... too bad my old one and good one retired.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

Westcliffe01, it may be that I'm reading your message incorrectly, but it sounds as if you were paying your medical bills directly because you had a $6,500 deductible.


You should never do that. A major benefit of health insurance is that you are eligible to pay the rates negotiated by the insurance company, which are a fraction of what doctors and hospitals will otherwise charge.
...


Crafty doctors and hospitals will tell you that you don't need to involve the insurance company because of the deductible, but all they are trying to do is get you to pay the inflated rate.


They will also try to bill you directly without telling you it hasn't been reviewed by the insurance company.

This is not always true. There are certain places and cases where the CASH price for a proceudre is literally much less than the negotiated insurance price. The reason - the facilities and doctors know that the insurance companies are willing to pay up to X, so they charge X for those who are insured. Very good friend of mine went in for an CT scan and insurance quoted price was $980. He then asked... "what If I don't want to use my insurance... can I just pay cash?" Response was - sure, $387.


The informed will find out the price for both scenarios and then decide.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by tradrockrat

This was probably lost in the kerfuffle... anybody wanna still talk about the subject of the thread with me?

This is a really good subject, that unfortunately looks to be recently hidden under nonsense.
The catastrophic illness aspect has my interest as a cruiser. Many countries offer affordable health care for cash on the spot to cover common needs, in my experience. The big remaining concern is covering possible major events as an international cruiser. Anyone's 1st-hand experience would be appreciated. (I'm sure the story differs per home country.)

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

GEOES MEDEVAC purchased via Garmin as part of my InReach plan.

Correction it is $200/year.

Found them, thanks.

https://www.geosresponse.com/

We will likely have an Iridium Go and that is a supported product as well.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

Hey Mike,
Perusing an old thread and couldn't help myself. While your statement that Canadians are not flocking to the US en mass for healthcare is arguably acceptable, for sure that people from other countries are NOT going to Canada for healthcare. Is that even possible?

Sure it's possible. You just pay for it, as you would in the USA. Some certainly are coming here, but I don't think it's a large number.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by tradrockrat

My wife and I(in all of our massive wealth...lol) are seriously considering Ecuador as our final destination after our cruising days end. Partially because of the economics and currency, partly because of their expat friendly communities, and partially because we have friends there and love the country.

Thanks. That's another country for me to study .