The kitty is looking in the window at me. Chico is sleeping on the bed. It is still dark outside. Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving and I celebrated by overeating at Salvador's Buffet with my friend Loretta. That blew my diet. I had promised myself that I would not eat all the fattening things, like pies and mashed potatoes and such. But I ate the yams and as I was eating my second helping of a bread pudding, I knew all was lost. My diet was over for the day. It was delicious. Sometimes it is important to get off the diet and enjoy food. That is my rationalization. The truth is that I have very little self control when good food is in front of me. Especially if I have paid for it and that buffet was 180 pesos. Not cheap by Mexico's standards.
This morning I am going with a friend to the Tuesday market and if it is warm enough I will go to the pool and swim. Yesterday morning I swam for an hour and fifteen minutes. I was the only one in the pool. I arrived at nine in the morning and it was overcast and cold. I wore a rash guard to keep me warm. Of course the water is always warm but the air was cold. Good time to have the pool to myself.
Several of my friends are going back to the States to live. That makes me sad. But I understand why. One friend has a heart condition and he can't get the proper medial care here. Medical care is a big issue with us expats. We have all heard horror stories about the IMSS system and that is scary.
I have IMSS. I have never used it. I tried when I broke my ankle but there were too many problems in the hospital and I left and paid for it at a private hospital. Best two thousand dollars I ever spent. I just hope I don't ever need to use it. I will live here as long as I can and continue to pay out of pocket for my various medial needs. So far, I have been able to do that. I save IMSS for something major, like if someone runs over me. That happened to my friend. Someone backed out of a parking lot and ran over her. Broke her hip and did a lot more damage. She ended up having to pay for the hospital expenses herself. It took her a year to recover. I am now knocking on my wooden desk, hoping that never happens to me.
Another day has begun. Time to go out and give the kitty a few pets. I finally realized that she wants pets more than food. She is lonely. I can relate. Sometimes I too get lonely. But soon I will be back with my family in Portland. I leave here the 31st of this month. I will be in the States until Dec. 4th. Then back home again. I now consider Mexico my HOME.
Oh that buffet sounds yummie, I would have a hard time disciplining myself for sure! But then I have no self discipline or I would be the weight I was meant to be instead of weighing in as severely obese. I thought medical care was great in Mexico, better than here in the US so I'm surprised to hear this. I imagine some people move back to the US to be closer by their family members if they have poor health especially, it probably gives them a greater sense of security. I learned that it's wise to keep Medicare benefits when I become 65 because if I do move there and come back to the US ever I would be covere and would not have to pay a penalty that really brings the rate up so I decided that if and when I do move there I will choose to keep the benefit. I would probably look into medical insurance of some sort while there as well! Love hearing about you swimming! I love to swim, it's my favorite form of exercising!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your interesting comment. Yes, medical care if good here if you can afford to pay for it. But the problem is if you have a major medical emergency. Then you have to rely on IMSS or Seguro Popular. Not so good. I didn't keep that Medicare extra expense. How it works is that every year you have not been on it, they raise your rate by ten percent.... P
ReplyDeleteCount me in as someone who has had to use IMSS for a major medical problem (breast cancer). And, yeah, IMSS is not so good. Even some of the doctors that I saw had nothing good to say about "our' IMSS hospital in Tlajomulco. But there's no way I could afford Medicare extra coverage or private insurance in the US. It's the primary reason that I live in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that comment. I appreciate it. I hope you are doing okay now. P
DeleteI don't know if I will be able to afford Medicare when I do retire in MX if I do retire there that is....I just think that if I can swing it, it would be good to do, but not sure how much IMSS is either so it will all factor in when it comes time to make that decision. Good to hear the truth about IMSS though! Thx for sharing. I wonder with Obamacare how that plays out if you aren't a permanent resident. I was told by an insurance group here that if you don't have medical insurance the penalty you pay at tax time is only like $95. so that's not such a big deal! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThank you for that information. But if you have medicare, do you have to also pay the 100 dollars a month extra? And if you live out of the country, why pay 95 dollars for nothing? P
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you are asking about the 100 dollars per month if you have medicare. Medicare is considered having medical insurance, and with Obamacare you are penalized only 1 time payment of approx. $95, if you don't have US medical insurance and pay US Income taxes which you have to do if you are getting SS benefits, so no matter if you have medicare or another form of US insurance, when you pay taxes you will be hit with a penalty for not having any medical insurance. So if you pay taxes which you have to do if you are living in Mexico as a tourist and getting social security benefits you will be hit with a penalty charge. That's to make US citizens get medical insurance and they are trying to get people setup with a means to afford it. But if you are a temporary resident or considered a resident in Mexico than you don't have to worry about the Obamacare act as I understand it. I'm no expert though! Pam
DeleteThank you Pam. Complicated stuff. P
DeleteI am a bit confused by this information because I have heard wonderful things about the medical care in Mexico. We actually experienced wonderful care when my husband fell off a horse and had quite an injury. He was seen by doctors and given three prescriptions as well as cleaning and bandaging of the wound for $0. Then his x-ray and recheck of the injury plus cleaning the wound and freshening the bandage cost only about $45 US. We felt he received excellent care for very little money--certainly less than in the US had the same thing happened. We also met a person who had gone into a diabetic coma and was sent to Guadalajara and spent $6000 for a week's stay that would have cost a whole lot more in the US.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that very interesting information. Yes, I believe the medical care here is very good and much less expensive than in the States. The problem is major stuff. Like heart attacks, expensive operations and long hospital stays. Those things add up and IMSS hospitals are overcrowded and understaffed. They don't even have toilet paper in the bathrooms. When I went there with a broken foot they didn't even have a wheel chair to bring me in from the car. So for the smaller things, Mexico is better. Thanks, p
DeleteOn the last day of my vacation in Ajijic this past March, I was sent to the Ajijic hospital to see the doctor as I was having really bad stomach pains and frequent loose stools (I was boarding a plane in three hours...ugh!). I paid 200 pesos for a very thorough exam. The doctora gave me a list of meds to pick up at the farmacia - the meds cost more than the doctora visit! I was very impressed with her care! And, the meds did the trick!! Not one bathroom visit the entire airplane trip (thank GOD)!
ReplyDeleteHi Donna, That was a very good experience. I have also had good experiences with doctors here. I just worry about if I have a major medical emergency that isn't so easily fixed. P
Delete