Why medical care in Mexico feels like the ideal choice? What is it about Mexico that they find appealing? Medical care is provided in their home country, yet for various medical purposes, Mexico feels like the ideal choice. The answer is simple, lower costs, immediate medical care, array of new medical treatments, and specialized medical services.

When retirees are confronted with the choice to pay $50,000 for staying in the hospital only, not including physical therapy and anesthesiology versus paying half of that amount for the whole medical experience in Mexico, the choice becomes clear.

Mexico is the Second Medical Home for Retirees

After retirement, the retirees do not have a steady income flow and have to rely on their retirement savings. When they fall ill with an ailment, spending a chunk of the savings on medical treatments seems unreasonable. It puts additional burden on them to use their life savings to pay for treatments.

Conversely, others do not have a retirement fund or extra savings to tap into. That’s when the word medical tourism is thrown around in their household. If the illness is grave and if going to Mexico can somehow salvage their savings, they decide to pursue it. It is a choice they make by looking at the following factors:

– Medical treatments in Mexico cost less, oftentimes at a fraction of the cost in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

– They do not have medical insurance to relieve them of some of the expenses associated with medical treatments.

– Even if people seek medical treatments through the National Health Service (NHS) or some other governmental bodies, the waiting time can go up to eighteen weeks. By visiting another country such as Mexico, waiting times are cut in half.

– Certain medical treatments may not be available in the person’s home country, but might be available in medical tourism countries.

– Certain medical tourism countries specialize in a specific medical field. For instance, for Mexico, it is dentistry and cosmetic surgery.

Hence, retirees are not only visiting Mexico for medical treatments, but are residing there permanently a well.

Mexico:  The Permanent Home for Retired Expats

The migration of expats from the United States to Mexico began during the baby boom era. The primary reason for the rise in the number of expats leaving their home country for their border nation was the rising costs in healthcare and global recession.

According to the research paper “Health Care and Americans Retiring in Mexico,” people aged fifty and over are currently thinking to relocate to another country to retire. For Americans, Mexico ranks as the number one country for them to settle and retire.

The International Community Foundation reports that medical care in Mexico is being exceedingly cost-effective. This means that retirees can get the whole medical package below $600 each year. It gives them access to X-rays, IMSS hospital care, if required, and dental procedures. For retirees, it sounds like a good deal.

 Sources:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/private-treatment-abroad/what-is-medical-tourism.htm

http://www.icfdn.org/publications/healthcare/004.php

http://www.icfdn.org/publications/healthcare/RRA-2-FINAL.pdf