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Medical U.S vs Mexico


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In 2008 I had Dr. Garcia Garcia, my cardiologist in Mexico, tell me to meet him at his office in Guad the morning he was going to perform an angiogram on me. Pre prep was done the day before.. a bleed clot test. Meeting the doc at his guad office, he had me follow him through the back streets of Guad to the Puerta Hirrios hospital, only a couple years old. There he had me park in the Dr. parking area next to his car. took me upstairs to the registration office, and told me he'd see me soon. 5 minutes... total in registation. Then met by a nurse, given a gown and told to change. 2 minutes later. Gown on, nurse walked me around the corner into the cath lab, Doc and 4 others waiting for me. Little old lady included.. her job, rub my head and tell me sweet nothings while the procedure was preformed. TV screen overhead allowed me to see what the doc was seeing. but didn't look. 30 minutes later doc, looked at me and said, Ron... all your graphs are clear... its really amazing after 13 years.. Overnight in great hospital, complete with bed for my wife. Doc up the next morning, checked me, then picked up our luggage, carried it down to our car, loaded it, then told me he knew I didn't know where I was and to follow him until I found the road back to Ajijic and when I did to flash my lights and he'd return to his office... Total cost 5,048 dollars.
Flash forward to yesterday March 27 2015. Told to be at hospital at 9:45 sat in waiting room till 11. taken into a multi screened room, many people, nurses then hooked me up took blood samples, multi other tests and finally took me into cath lab.. Not even close to the one in Mexico.. 3 nurses again began hooking me up, doing stuff and at 11:45 doc came in.. Said Hi Ron how are you. then began the procedure... less than 15 minutes and walked out of the room. Taken back to the orig room, I spent the next 2 hours making sure I didn't bleed and was then released to go home. I expected the Doc would come in tell me what happend. ... He didn't, instead found my friend in waiting room, quickly told him I had 2 open and one blocked, no stents. My neighbor wrote this down, and said doc told him, he'd be sending me to another doc for therapy... nothing else then left the hospital. And my total cost 390 dollars, medicare advantage humana co pay. But I know Humanna will be billed for over 20, 000 dollars.
And you know what? I'm mad.. I went in expecting to leave, knowing the good the bad or the ugly, thinking I would have 1 or 2 stents, but all I came home with was lots of questions and no one to talk to. Doc Garcia in Mexico... gave me his card, with his cell number on it and I was told to call with any questions or problems..
Guess where, if I could afford to pay cash, I would go for my medical care. Truth, not fiction.

Ron

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I had exactly that experience in Mexico, with Dr. Garcia, several years ago. More recently, I have had two more heart catheterizations with stent placements by Dr. Briseño and his father. They were also just as kind and efficient. I am now in the USA and hope to never have to have another angiogram, as the attitude here seems to be completely cold and uncaring. They do lots and lots of superficial testing and monitoring, but I think it is mostly a CYA procedure.

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I have had exactly the same great experience with Dr. Ramon Garcia Garcia and had the same procedure a few years ago. Met him at his office and followed him to the hospital, had his help with checking in, etc. Same exceptional care including the same woman who talked to me (calmly and comfortingly) throughout the procedure. Overnight in the hospital which is beautiful and very modern.

Dr. Garcia freely hands out his card including his cell number and has always been available and responsive when I have called him. My favorite story is that I was about to have surgery (not heart surgery - something else) and since I was going to have general anesthetic I need the cardiologist to sign off. This came up relatively quickly so I wasn't able to call Dr. Garcia until about 6pm on a Friday evening. He answered the phone and spent about 15 minutes talking to me. During that call I found out that he was at the beach with his family but still took my call and took care of everything. Once I realized he was at the beach I apologized and tried to let him go and to arrange to talk to him on Monday. He wouldn't hear of it and stayed on the line. I found out that he also called my surgeon - who he knows very well - that night to clear me for surgery the next Tuesday and completed the written/signed paperwork when he got back to the office on Monday - without me having to call to remind him. He also showed up in my room before that surgery "just to say hello" and came by to see me a couple of times until I was able to go home following the surgery.

We are lucky enough to have signed up for private medical insurance here in Mexico when we moved down 9 years ago so we are all set to have our medical needs taken care of here. When we first moved here we were comforted by the availability of local and Guadalajara medical services, major hospitals in Guadalajara, the medical school, etc. We thought we could at least get emergency care here and be stabilized enough to go NOB for further treatment. After being here for a while and having some direct experience with the wonderful medical care available, if something happens while we are NOB I would want to get stabilized there and get back to Guadalajara for further treatment as quickly as possible. DEFINITELY did not expect to see things that way!

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I didn't think Medicare paid in Mexico??

The OP's second experience was in the States.

If I were in the US and needed serious medical care, I would fight to get back to Mexico where Drs. really care about more than the money.

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This is one of our reasons for leaving the US. I want to make an additional comment here about care in Mexico. A couple of doctors have set up a US style clinic. This is not a good thing if you look at how things have turned out in the US.

It's also interesting to note that the doctor that was interviewed by the Chapala Reporter commented that he would like to see all the pharmacies linked so they could track what the patients are taking, for their "protection" of course. This would eliminate all privacy, of which we have absolutely none in the US. It would also pave the way the another massive oversight system where government or medical boards would then have control over medical records, etc. It's the boiling frog theory. A little bit of regulation here and there all for the "benefit" of the people and in the end it ends up hurtful.

This will mean doctors will lose the ability to practice medicine the way they see fit. This is already happening in Mexico with the prescriptions and they are already afraid. I can attest to the huge damage personally.

At this point, I am thankful that medical doctors in Mexico are still providing better care than in the US and I hope they will not be interfered with.

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There is a lot more medical privacy in the US than in Mexico. Here, most people involved with a patient from the receptionist to the lab people to the Dr. have very little sense of privacy. For example, sign-in lists where anyone can see who signed in ahead of them. Or calling out first and last names in the waiting room. Not OK in the US.

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The Price has gone up.

Last week my husband was sent (by Dr. Garcia) for an angiogram. Drove ourselves, got lost twice. Waited over an hour for the doctor to confirm by phone that he ordered the test. Cost of the test: $15,000.00 pesos. The test revealed the need for 2 stents. Quoted price: $8,000.00 USD per stent plus the hospital. He has an appointment next week at the VA in Texas.

He said nobody rubbed his head.

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It is those rapidly rising prices and the more frequent need for various hospitalizations, all now doubled from a decade ago, that forced us to make the sad decision to leave for the USA, where we do have VA and Medicare available to us. However, we really do miss the efficiency, care and kindness of the excellent medicos at Quality Care/Medicos Especialistas, and at several hospitals in Guadalajara.

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re price going up... doc told me yesterday, medicated stents were 30,000... Suppose anyone's getting rich... If Mexico can get them, and first have to pay for them themselves, how can they sell them for only 8,000 while the U.S. charges 30,000... something wrong with that picture..

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I was told that the actual cost of a stent, to the profession, was pretty much the same worldwide. The same is true for aspirin, but I do no recommend that you ask for one while in a hospital NoB.

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My experiences echo positives above.

Brought my 90 yr. old father down. In US he was on oxygen and laying around on recliner with nothing to look forward to except frequent visits to 'specialist' of the day. And there were at least 5. CaChinggg!!! We arrived at 2000 feet higher altitude . He got off plane and only some weeks later asked me about visit to 'specialist.' No oxygen needed and had life to look forward to instead of previous life's schedule mandated by Dr.visits. He even fell in love with cardiologist and we BOTH looked forward to visiting her in Guad. 2 1/2 good years for each of us.

Then I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Same as my 30 something nephew in US the year before. He had outstand med insurance. Me, not. His employer was most understanding and allowed weekly day off for him to go to Dr for treatment and frequent tests. And it took an entire day of commuting, waiting, etc.This went on for a year. CaChing!!!!!!

Nephew's ordeal continued for one year. US is on it's own treatment time table. MX is on European system. I had half as many chemos as him and NO follow up radiation. I had 3 blood tests. He had to have surgery to place a portal in chest to allow for weekly blood letting.

My out of pocket was about US$25,000. He spent almost twice as much even though he had outstanding insurance. Not counting weekly commute and day off work. Doubt his 'care givers' even knew his name let alone chatted him up and mopped brow during treatment. Nurse visited me at home every 2 weeks to administer chemo and massage my brow. A year after remission, I still get emails, texts from nurse and Dr inquiring.

I now have more coverage in US but comparing his experience and mine.....I'd much rather fall in love in MX than be subjected to US style cash register CaChinging.

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Well...the fact is, I have super medical coverage in the US--Medicare AND Medicare Supplement AND Prescription drug coverage, and here, being of advanced age, I have coverage that will pay if I am involved in a major car crash and certain other things, and excludes any heart problems, as I am on meds for high blood pressure. AND, I am single living alone, and while I have good friends, I am NOT sure that there would be anyone to accompany me and stay with me in a hospital here. So I maintain my US coverage. In the US I have a son who is a shrink with the VA and is married to a nurse who has served on cancer wards. And of course in Tucson, where my son and his family live, I have RV Gringo! Just kidding RV! Me, I am maintaining my options, such as they are. Yes, I moved here when I was able to get medical coverage, but the plan failed, whereupon I scrambled for other options. Fortunately, I still have cash and credit cards. I joke that the first thing that would happen if I were hauled into Guad in a bad state, is that the hospital would check my credit cards and breathe a sigh of relief.

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I think one of the problems people run into here is when they don't have private Mexican insurance. If you have something happen here that is not too severe then paying out of pocket is often practical. If you don't have insurance that is effective in Mexico then even the more reasonable cost of paying out of pocket for everything can really add up. But that is what insurance is far - the really big stuff that you hope will never happen. Being uninsured is not the same as being self insured.

So some people wind up going back the U.S. because they have access to other types of insurance - V.A., Medicare, private U.S. insurance that they may have kept in place, etc. Not necessarily because they think they will always get better care in the U.S.

I have had great experience with healthcare here in Mexico including several surgeries, chemo, radiation, etc. BUT - we have private medical insurance here through Axa. If not we might have made a very different decision and been forced to return to the U.S. for treatment. I am VERY happy to have had the option to stay here and feel like I got world class medical care - but without our Mexican insurance plan we almost certainly would not have had a choice.

We signed up before we were 62, have no exclusions for preexisting conditions, have a manageable deductible to limit out of pocket costs and an annual premium that we can handle - although it does increase a little each year. If we never file another claim we are ahead of the game for the next 10-15 years based on what the insurance company has already paid out for my care. I REALLY appreciate the care I received and our insurance plan made that choice possible.

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You said it well. We arrived in Mexico with pre-existing conditions, me with some coverage by BC/BS through my retirement; she without and with no retirement either. Multiple heart attacks and then a couple of abdominal surgeries pretty much ate up my out of country BC/BS coverage, and she began to need care and a couple of surgeries too. We loved the providers and the quality of care, but it was adding up and our resources were barely able to keep up. So, since I have BC/BS, VA and Medicare, and she has Medicare and a supplement in the USA, we made the move. We didn‘t like doing it, but it is a load off our shoulders. Of course, the other costs of living NoB are hard to accept, but we can control some of that and no longer have to worry too much about the possibility/probability of medical emergencies now that we are 67 and 77 and showing the wear and tear of time. Medical insurance in Mexico was never a viable option for us.

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With all due respect and compassion, I do not understand why anyone without medical insurance that will cover them in Mexico or any other country would move permanently to that country. It seems like just asking for trouble down the road. Visiting for 6 months or so, fine, but having a place to go back to where you are covered for medical costs would seem to be one of the most obvious steps a mature person would take. No offense intended toward anyone else but maybe food for thought for other people considering a move.

We know a nice woman at Lakeside who has no pension or medical insurance. She once asked us if we knew how or why some people had pensions and insurance. It was a sincere question and one we were not interested in trying to answer.

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Pappy,

You may have missed some details in my post and should read it again.

We spent 13 wonderful years in Chapala/Ajijic with some insurance coverage for one, and paid out of pocket for whatever else was needed. However, there comes a time when one‘s time is expiring and the need for long term care may raise its ugly head. One also wants to set up a safety net for his spouse, where that is possible. So, here we are back in the USA, but wishing it were not so. We made our decisions based upon our needs and capabilities. You could do the same.....please!

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