Jump to content
Chapala.com Webboard

A very good reason to be happy we live here


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply
2 minutes ago, bmh said:

I cannot speak of anywhere but I can speak of several other countries where I have lived and one of them is the States. 

No, you cannot speak for the States. You cannot speak for Mexico, nor any other country in the World. You do not currently have health care in every area of the USA. Actually, I will wage a hefty sum that you know absolutely NOTHING about health care where our home area is NOB, yet you propose to speak for it? That is not very realistic, as the States is a VAST area and most areas are completely different from others in many things. Think about it.! Speaking from your personal experience and in this moment is the best you can do about the area you have the care in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

 

After 30 years in the States  and in various States I know what I can get in the States, if you have money it is nice if you do not have insurrance not so good actually pretty bad and that is my personal experience and that of my husband too. 

I can speak of healthcare in England and in France where I have also lived and used the healthcare system...

Here in Mexico I have a private insurrance and we had several stays in hospitals so I can also speak about that and I can even compare that with our experiences in other countries.. Like it or not.. I do not go back to the States to get treatment where I could go if that is what I chose to do... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the US, I can only speak for the state of WA. I understand but don't know that each state is different, What I would find interesting but don't need to know is how different are the other states?  Sadly I doubt anyone really knows the answer to that question, Oh well. I just know that more and more I am leaning toward getting more if not most of my healthcare in Mexico.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, johanson said:

In the US, I can only speak for the state of WA. I understand but don't know that each state is different, What I would find interesting but don't need to know is how different are the other states?  Sadly I doubt anyone really knows the answer to that question, Oh well. I just know that more and more I am leaning toward getting more if not most of my healthcare in Mexico.

And we are happy for you. I certainly couldn't speak for a whole State's health care. In my State there are some cities where I would not go to seek care, and in others, where  I would go there if I had a choice of most in the World (depends on the condition  - M.D. Anderson for Cancer). Such differences even within my own State. Glad yours is all the same. Easier decision. We respect your decision. Each person should be happy with  their own choice without someone trying to put down their choice, no?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Hud said:

How FUNNY !!! The OP uses San Antonio, TX doctors ! Yet, what a great reason to be happy we live at Lakeside. Hilarious ! :D

 

I use local doctors and clinics and labrotories most of the time but I will use an eye surgeon in San Antonio in December, too many horror stories here. I also went to a spine surgeon after the one that operated on me here 16 years ago said he could do nothing else. I'm not sure why that is funny. My back doesn't feel funny. I also buy some pharmacuticals on Walmart USA 90 day for $10 for items not available here at all or much more expensive. 

I posted the article for some of those considering going back or going back for an appointment so they could make the appt in time. What is wrong in trying to inform people of things I have read that they might not have seen. It is you choice what to read or NOT.

Those who might use the info you are welcome. Those who don't believe such studies, don't read them. It's available and I don't get a dime out of it.

But if you want to challange the stats write to the Merrit Hawkins Healthcare Company or the paper that published it, Feel free to send them your own research as a counter point, they are not my facts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all of this discussion the topic of pharmacy was never addressed. It is very important. In many Us states there are computer systems that pick up incompatible medications or wrong dosage. I know there was a movement to connect the different pharmacy chains with the data since some people would get one medication at one place and another with a different group.     Here my experience has been that the larger pharmacies have qualified people than smaller express pharmacies.  At one discount pharmacy, I have experienced two wrong medications dispensed. I always look them up.  One time could have been very dangerous. A medication ordered for a gastric problem turned out to be an antihypertensive. Not only am I taking a antihypertensive for a heart rhythm but I have normally a low blood pressure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are a Texas resident, then good luck on finding a PPO that will accept MD Anderson. The largest health care insurer in Texas BCBS stopped offering all PPO plans in December 2015.  Those plans were all converted to HMOs.  MD Anderson was on the provider list under PPO plans but no more on HMO plans.  You are on your own now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Kiko said:

If you are a Texas resident, then good luck on finding a PPO that will accept MD Anderson. The largest health care insurer in Texas BCBS stopped offering all PPO plans in December 2015.  Those plans were all converted to HMOs.  MD Anderson was on the provider list under PPO plans but no more on HMO plans.  You are on your own now.

Kiki is correct.  For 2016 in ACA I switched to Aetna.  The coverage was good.  They are also out of the ACA now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our plan is through my wife's employer retiree plan. We pay $324/mo. and it has a $300 deductible, 80%, max out of pocket $2000 good anywhere in the world. We get all of our healthcare in Mexico. Maskaras Clinic was bad on several things but good for me on a visiting urologist. PV has been very good for fixing a botched hernia surgery and a cardiologist who seems top notch. Double cataract surgery in the next couple of weeks will be the test of the opthalmologist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, geeser said:

I use local doctors and clinics and labrotories most of the time but I will use an eye surgeon in San Antonio in December, too many horror stories here. I also went to a spine surgeon after the one that operated on me here 16 years ago said he could do nothing else. 

WE use local doctors for the simple stuff, too, geeser. But, as I said, anything serious, we go to our doctors NOB because of exactly what happened to you and others. I went to a highly respected doctor here in Ajijic and he brought a spine specialist in from Guad. After z-rays, the specialist (in the office with the local respected doctor) read the results and said that I needed immediate surgery on my neck or I would become paralyzed at any moment. Cost about $3,500-$4,000 .The local doctor concurred. They could set it up for the next day in Guad. I declined. We IMMEDIATELY went back to the states (with the report) and got in within an hour with my family doctor. He looked at the x-rays and read the report. His secretary was fluent in Spanish and translated for him. She said there was very minor evidence of age related degeneration between 2 vertebrae in two different locations and nothing else remarkable. WOW !!! I approached the local Ajijic doctor when we returned and said that I expected a lot better from him, as he had a good local extranjero following, and was praised for bringing specialists in from Guad.. He just shrugged his shoulders and made no comment. 3 years earlier, the same doctor brought his orthopedic elbow/hand  surgeon down and I agreed to his strong suggestion of surgery. After, 4 weeks of therapy following the surgery in Guad, the left hand returned almost as good as it was the day I had the surgery. I am glad some people are happy with their selections. But, we have had more than enough. We are fortunate to live where we feel extremely confident in our choice for medical care. I did not say that we would use just any doctor or facility available there, but what we have selected is the best for us. I based my local Lakeside choice on recommendations from "old timers" and asking MANY people. We made our choices NOB by just going to a doctor/facility and if they were not what we wanted, we moved on. We don't waste our valuable time any more. I am very sorry about your spine experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suspect we had the same local Dr. who is a nice guy and recommend by many but who recommended a surgeon from Guadalajara who did not do the necessary work on my hernia and a year later I needed it done correctly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Newjersey expat said:

In all of this discussion the topic of pharmacy was never addressed. It is very important. In many Us states there are computer systems that pick up incompatible medications or wrong dosage. 

Lack of knowledge about medications and reactions with other drugs from doctors and pharmacies locally at Lakeside  could have cost both my wife and I our lives. Only one doctor here has EVER asked what other drugs we were taking when they have given us prescriptions. Only one doctor has made any written record of our visits. Asking about drug reactions at the pharmacies gets the reply that you need to ask your doctor. My wife was told to take an antibiotic for 5 days before the dentist would work on her tooth. The dosage was for 3 times the Maximum daily dosage for that antibiotic. We have also had really good work from Dr. Haro and one of his assistants, but not all of them. Just need to be really careful in this Lakeside area. Hard to find the good from the "money grabbers". If you find a really good one, you are very fortunate and enjoy.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, bmh said:

This can happen anywhere in the world and this is why you have to be very involved with your treatments, options and doctors,  

Unecessary surgeries are done all over the world where people can afford them 

My Personal experience is that it happened to me in the US.... run-away Cartiologist chasing a condition that I did not have. I ended up in Intensive Care after he botched an invasive "in the heart probe" procedure that he should not have been doing in the first place.... a simple arythmia that he was trying to make into something that it was not. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Kiko said:

If you are a Texas resident, then good luck on finding a PPO that will accept MD Anderson. 

We are Texas residents and would have no problem using MD Anderson, should the need arise. Hopefully, it will not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 5:32 AM, Kiko said:

I doubt seriously if BCBS is offering a PPO nowadays.  You must be insured with another carrier.  Be thankful, more than 1/3 of your fellow Texans were not so lucky.

We are in the "other" 2/3 . :D  I just try to worry about us, not others that I have no control over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be moving permanently  to Lakeside next year from Illinois.  I will be Medicare eligible, but my wife will need private insurance for 2 years before becoming Medicare eligible.  It appears to me, like anywhere, there are good doctors in Lakeside and Guad, and good hospitals as well.  And like anywhere, asking around with people that seem sane (like here, for example!!) one should be able to hook up with quality health care in the Lakeside area.  BUT, what seems to be the rub is that as one ages past 75, private insurance locally gets very expensive, AND if you did not keep Medicare Part B, and want to get it, you will be penalized on your premiums 10% every year you have not contributed.  SO, it seems possibly best to pay out-of-pocket for routine care, and go back NOB for "procedures" as needed.  If so, is there communication between doctors here and there?  I would think staying with providers fluent in English would be helpful in this scenario.  THEN, what to do about an emergency.  Airlift insurance is cheap and probably useful for some things.  Can one depend on SP, or IMSS?  Would be so much simpler if Medicare would pay for care outside USA---probably save a ton of money too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...