International Retirement

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by jtur88

In what country? What kind of public health care do they have, and are you covered?

Generally, every country can smell an American coming for health care, and are getting very leery of letting Americans in so they can take care of you on the public dime when you get old.

I think you're thinking of European countries?

In Japan, there is a healthcare system, but it's really irrelevant, as everything is 'at cost' anyways. Meaning, it's easily affordable even without insurance.

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by jtur88

In what country? What kind of public health care do they have, and are you covered?

Generally, every country can smell an American coming for health care, and are getting very leery of letting Americans in so they can take care of you on the public dime when you get old.

Indeed they can. I think there was no country I looked into a dozen years ago concerning retirement visa requirements that did not have one for a private insurance policy.

They do not take retired, non-EU folks into the Portuguese national system. The same was true of another EU country I lived in on a retirement visa. As I recall from more than ten years ago Costa Rica required retirees to opt for paying into one of two CR medical plans, but at the time the costs seemed mind-bogglingly inexpensive and the local American expat assn presented local health care as good.

One of the requirements for a retirement visa here is that you have a private insurance policy that covers you as a resident of the country. I took out a policy issued in the UK. (Citizens retiring from EU countries don't have to worry about this.)

I chose a policy with a 1,000 euro deductable. Thus far, it has paid one hundred percent of my bills after the deductable, and that has included four stents, a double cataract operation, and a fractured spine. After submitting enough piddling bills to meet the deductable, I often don't submit for various tests and analyses as they are so cheap that it is not worth the PIA to have the forms filled out by a doctor and mailed to them. (Drs here are no happier about insurance forms than in the U.S.) Also there is a private lab on my street for bloods and urine analyses and right next door a separate imaging clinic - both of these places are cheaper than my hospital, even with the discounts, so I usually take my test orders to these places. I paid a little over 130 euros for an MRI of the dorsal and lumbar/sacral spine at the latter place.

For 100 euro fee per year I get a discount from my bills at my local hospital and several associated hospitals. The discounts run from 10% to 40%. I also pay the same fee for a discount card at a larger private hospital in a nearby town, and it also covers me for three other private hospitals in the area that they are associated with.

[Rob702]

I would definitely think about your health if you decide to retire abroad. I.e. don't move to a country where medical standards are very low, you might regret it.. that would rule out most third world countries for me.