Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OK here's my 2 cents: We are moving to the Big Island because for us at least...the cost of living will be significantly lower than remaining in California. We were looking to be able to retire (mostly) so we looked outside of Kona and Hilo. We scouted out Ocean View (and yes we know that there isn't a whole lot going on there) and we looked at Na'alehu, and in both Hawaiian Paradise Park and Hawaiian Beaches - both in the Puna area of the Big island on the east side. In the end we chose Ocean View. As far as property taxes, with the homeowners exemption, they are practically nothing. Vehicle registration is almost nothing compared to California.
As for the retiring in Hawaii and whether or not it is affordable, it's all relative to what you think you want or need. The Big Island is the most affordable island to retire on just given the geography and build-ability. We've been on the other islands and the smaller footprint, combined with areas of the island you can live on, the cost is just alot higher.
A friend of mine is having to move to the mainland due to needing better healthcare. She is getting older and she just had a health issue that wasn't handled well so now she will need a higher level of medical intervention than if it would have been done right the first time. It was mostly from her choice in primary care doctor, IMHO, from what she's recounted. He may be a nice guy, but I'm not sure if he's a good doctor. In any case, she will be relocating in the next several months.
After they sell their house here and pay off the remaining mortgage, they will probably still net almost a quarter mil. Which is a tidy chunk of change to go house shopping with in a lower cost of living area. She's figuring somewhere in North Florida and paying about $150K for a two bedroom house there on a flat lot (I think all the lots in Florida are flat?) and a bit of fenced yard. Better healthcare, paid for house, money in the bank and less expensive cost of living. Things will be just jolly for her, but of course, she will be in Florida and not here anymore.
A friend of mine is having to move to the mainland due to needing better healthcare. She is getting older and she just had a health issue that wasn't handled well so now she will need a higher level of medical intervention than if it would have been done right the first time...
Since we don't know this person, would you mind sharing her condition? That would complete the picture for anyone with similar concerns.
It apparently started out as an infection of the heart lining and her doctor didn't pick it up until it went septic and she had six weeks of IV antibiotics and will now need one or two heart valves replaced. At first her original doctor told her it was anemia. Then it may have been Hepititus A,B,C or whichever, possibly leptospirosis, the conjectures were all over the place and there were more than two months of not finding an actual diagnosis.
Finally she went to a different specialist and he started the whole round of tests all over again because he didn't trust the results from the first doctor or something. I'm getting all this second hand, of course, so the validity of it could be in question. She then had a second specialist after the first specialist did his tests.
The third doctor called her up at ten at night and told her to get to the hospital immediately. She was in ICU for three or four days, then the hospital for another week then released to go home but still had nurses coming over to change out the IV drugs. She's still getting some minor treatments, but the IV is gone and she's allowed out of the house now. She's still weak and has lost about 35 pounds or so. She's happy with that part, but it's a heck of a way to lose weight.
Had it been diagnosed before it went septic, the treatment would have been a lot less. I haven't a clue how difficult that sort of thing is to diagnose.
Her experience has been that the doctors were not talking with each other and not working as a team. She says the third doctor is now in charge and making things work much better. I don't know how much doctor personalities get involved in these sorts of situations, but I know sometimes in other professions who your professional is matters when it comes to them all getting along.
She does have HMSA, though, and not Kaiser. My experience with Kaiser has been seamless communication between all the doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and even up to and including the front receptionists. Kaiser also calls in specialists immediately if they're needed so the GP doesn't have to cover as much ground. I think a lot of her problems were from an old school doctor who doesn't have an extensive computer system or even an extensive group to collaborate with. She says she likes HMSA because she gets to "pick her doctor", but Kaiser gives us three or four to pick from at our local clinic and even more if we want to travel to a larger facility.
I asked my GP once if it was good to be a Kaiser doctor and the reply was that since Kaiser took care of all the paperwork, the doctor had more time to be a doctor. Makes sense, you go to someone with a private practice and they have to spend a lot of time running the business instead of being a doctor. Plus getting all the different types of insurance to talk to each other, must be a PITA for them. All the doctors at Kaiser seem real happy to be there and the whole place is staffed by excellent folks. But, of course, I have a very limited view since we don't get a whole lot of procedures done.
I was at Kaiser just yesterday having some minor surgery done and there was another patient there who was telling me the differences he noticed between HMSA and Kaiser. He's from Australia, where they have no cost healthcare for everyone. Yeah, they may pay more in taxes (I don't know for certain, but probably so?), but they don't have to pay for doctors so they probably save money in the long run. Nobody loses their house or savings from having to pay for healthcare. He moved to Hawaii (something job related, although I didn't ask what he did) and his wife had their first child by C-section. They were on HMSA since that's all their employer offered. He said it was a 'standard C-section' but HMSA argued about covering $9K of the costs. He said it took years to settle it and they still had to pay about half that amount. He said their second child was also delivered by C-section and they had Kaiser at the time. The total bill for the second child was $9.
Of course, this is all anecdotal evidence, so I don't know how valid it is, YMMV.
Honolulu has some very good specialists and doesn't take a long wait to see them.
Five years ago when I traveled in the East Coast, one of my eyes suddenly lost vision and I saw an eye doctor in New Jersey. She found out I had retina detachment and offered me two options. Either do the surgery there but cannot fly for the following two months or fly back to Honolulu for surgery. She found a well-known retina specialist in Honolulu and made an appointment on behalf of me three days after my return.
The retina specialist in Honolulu did a surgery on the following day after my appointment. I retained about 90% of my vision after the surgery.
Only afterwards did I realize that surgery may not succeed. Some patients just recover 50% of their vision or even become blind.
When my wife gave birth in Kaiser, she had to be discharged within 36 hours after delivery. She could barely walk by that time. Under HMSA, her OB doctor gave her 72 hours extended stay in the hospital when she gave birth to the second child.
Moreover, the OB doctor in Kaiser is taking rotation shift. Before delivery, the OB doctor she saw each time was a different one. And an OB doctor whom she never saw was in charge of the delivery. On the third day after the delivery, she went back to the hospital again because of infection.
This time Kaiser let her stay as long as she needed. And she stayed for a week.
It apparently started out as an infection of the heart lining and her doctor didn't pick it up until it went septic and she had six weeks of IV antibiotics and will now need one or two heart valves replaced. .
Endocarditis. Not very common, and I don't think this one is an easy diagnosis for a general practitioner. Certainly the specialist should have caught it.
I knew a woman in her 40's who died of it on the Oregon coast, but can't remember if she ever saw a doctor at all. Maybe not.
When my wife gave birth in Kaiser, she had to be discharged within 36 hours after delivery. She could barely walk by that time. Under HMSA, her OB doctor gave her 72 hours extended stay in the hospital when she gave birth to the second child.
Moreover, the OB doctor in Kaiser is taking rotation shift. Before delivery, the OB doctor she saw each time was a different one. And an OB doctor whom she never saw was in charge of the delivery. On the third day after the delivery, she went back to the hospital again because of infection.
This time Kaiser let her stay as long as she needed. And she stayed for a week.
Pro/con of Kaiser controlling costs and actually focusing on efficiency I guess.
As the consumer you can argue and work the system with kaiser. It helps to be aggressive with managing your healthcare. Overall I don’t find them to be evil (looking at you Facebook and google) but sometimes a little too robotic
Honolulu has some very good specialists and doesn't take a long wait to see them.
Five years ago when I traveled in the East Coast, one of my eyes suddenly lost vision and I saw an eye doctor in New Jersey. She found out I had retina detachment and offered me two options. Either do the surgery there but cannot fly for the following two months or fly back to Honolulu for surgery. She found a well-known retina specialist in Honolulu and made an appointment on behalf of me three days after my return.
The retina specialist in Honolulu did a surgery on the following day after my appointment. I retained about 90% of my vision after the surgery.
Only afterwards did I realize that surgery may not succeed. Some patients just recover 50% of their vision or even become blind.
It’s safer to do eye surgery on the mainland. If you have the eye surgery done in Hawaii, and you need to see a different eye specialist on the mainland, you can’t fly for maybe 3 months, you’ll be trapped in Hawaii. It may not be physically possible to travel from Hawaii to the mainland by sea in a safe manner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WaikikiBoy
At least you left them with this glimmer of hope for their golden years. LOL
It’s better to spoil a dream with a reality check than live a nightmare in abject poverty after all the savings are gone. The standard of living would be dramatically higher, and the money would last at least twice as long in Florida than in Hawaii.
It’s better to spoil a dream with a reality check than live a nightmare in abject poverty after all the savings are gone. The standard of living would be dramatically higher, and the money would last at least twice as long in Florida than in Hawaii.
I live in a rural area in Ka'u, and there are a lot of people here who have very limited incomes. Some locals and some transplants. It can be done, especially if you build your own home and have no mortgage. Living simply is a way of life for many people and, in fact, is more the norm here. It's not "abject poverty", it's figuring out how to make do with limited resources.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
