American Health Care

Okay, I am going to do another bitch session. This one has to do with the American Health Care System. If you aren't interested in this subject, then skip it. I am going through another encounter with it. I already talked about my two thousand dollar knee operation in Guadalajara. At the same time my friend in the States had the same operation and it cost thirty thousand dollars.

This time I am going to complain about the skilled nursing homes. There is one down the street from my house in Ajijic. I have photos of it on my blog in different posts. The cost is 1200 dollars a month. There is also one down the street from that one for Alzheimer's Patients. It costs 1400 dollars a month. I have seen the inside of both of these units. They are nice. These two are the high end homes in the area.

My ex-mother-in-law fell and broke her hip. She is 94 years old. They recently did the operation to replace the hip. She is in a skilled nursing unit in Portland to the tune of six thousand dollars a month. But now they say she needs 24 hour one-to-one minding. They call it a Sitter! This will cost the family an extra $17.50 an hour, every hour all day and night.... add that up....won't take long to bankrupt the entire family. So, I ask, What does the six thousand dollars a month pay for at the nursing home? Room and board? Too bad she can't make the trip to Mexico. She is too frail to travel. It cost seven thousand dollars just to fly her up to Portland from Northern California. Something is terribly wrong with this picture.