Health insurance for retired people

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

My wife had a baby here in Japan...with 5 nights of 24/7 food/care/tests, etc. Cost me US$2,000 for EVERYTHING. That is because it is 'at cost' here in Japan, even if the country is the most expensive in the world.

Take the U.S., I could fly to Mississippi, where the cost of living is cheap...and the same thing occurring probably would have cost me $25,000...do the middle men involved in the u.s. healthcare really need to make $23,000 in profit off of people's health issues? It's insane there.

You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Our government can't change it because they are bought by the health mafia. Vote out every incumbent!

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by Texexpat

OK, health insurance is very expensive (runs about $1,500/month for the 3 of us, but with private hospitalization included).

It's going to cost you that much in the US for three people easily. You are really much better off staying on the European system. Leidig, es ist vahr.

[Texexpat]

Well, health care we can afford... it's all the other stuff! We won't be able to stay on here after retirement because of the exorbitant cost of living. If we can just sort out the health care issue in the US, we should be able to eat and buy a house there!

[Bideshi]

Everyone is different I guess. I find the cost of living in Germany no more than most places in the US. We can't retire in Europe because we are not eligible for their health care system and would have to pay for private insurance. Also, neither of us has EU citizenship so we might not be able to stay anyway after my job with the US gov ends.

[Texexpat]

Yeah, with the new EU employment rules, it is almost impossible to get a work permit for an American. Even Switzerland, which is not in the EU but passed bilateral agreements with them, has become impossible - we can get work permits for Europeans easily, but the last time I applied for a work permit for an American (last year), it was refused (though I had built up a very good case).

My husband is fed up with the cold, too, and wants to retire to a golf course and warm weather. He's British, it's only natural!

[smarino]

Unfortunately it's on a state by state basis, and even on a county by county basis in some respects. Here in New Mexico the state, and I still have a hard time believing that they do this, is going to pay my entire Medicare Part B coverage. Free. I've never lived anywhere that the state offered to do anything remotely like that. Plus, New Mexico has a number of excellent health care clinics that take sliding scale fees if you are under a certain income level, and it is a very generous level. We've been considering a return to Hawaii, but we would have to give up so much in our health care options it may be a deal killer.

One rule I might point out that you don't want to break when it comes to moving: never move to a state or city that's suffering from a depressed economy. Even if your income is not connected to getting work there, a depressed economy means people will not be very happy, stress will be higher, there will be more crimes (especially property crimes), services like police and hospitals will be cut back, etc.