Another New Article about Expats in Boquete

[Jim Bondoux]

https://www.thenation.com/article/inequality-has-gotten-so-bad-were-offshoring-our-grandparents/

 

[Bonnie]

I find this article to be better than most on the subject of expatriation to Panama, and I particularly like the attention paid to the low cost of in-home care for the incapacitated, which can be very important. But I continue to dislike and disagree with the portrayal of good medical care as ridiculously inexpensive. As many folks make the move because of health care costs, the subject merits closer attention. And I don't know who told him that the pensionado visa came into existence in 2012.

[JudyS]

I wonder how she found a live-in caregiver.

[JohnF13]

Have to agree Bonnie.  Health care is nor "ridiculously cheap" here unless you are willing to edure the public system.  At the hospital I use I have been told quite openly there are three levels of fees - one for Panamanians, one for expats and the third for expats with insurance.  

[TwoSailors]

Worth while read!

[WryAwry]

These "get outta town (USA) before ya drown" pieces are becoming as ubiquitous as "(insert your favorite gripe here)". Their frequency has spawned the latest backlash, which is manifesting as the viral defense of just how great things are here in the Good Ol' Yew Ess of Aye. The priorities boil-down to quality-of-life issues: "I hurt and it sucks cuz it's so expensive to try to fix it." The touts of "Retirement Paradises" such as Boquete seldom do more than take a swipe at the veneer with a dustcloth; the realities of any change in any life are far too complex to comprehensively address.

What has not been reported at all is the sweeping reform taking place in American health care, where the benevolent HMO's are joining forces with friendly Insurance Conglomerates and everybody's favorite Uncle Big Pharma in the plan now known simply as "America Greatness" Just place all of your money into the convenient slot in the front of the Suck-a-Tron, take a giant handful of Designer Drugs, then walk out that door over there and die.

Safe. Convenient. Dignified. And, good for your Country, too! Preserve a robust economy for the entitled by becoming extinct. Now, more than ever before, it is time for all ordinary older citizens to become True Patriots. Why subject the next generation to the shame that accompanies becoming an Old Fart? Don't be a burden! Our slogan:

"INSPIRE! EXPIRE!"

That's real progress,

 

wryawry

[Keith Woolford]

On 8/19/2016 at 9:31 PM, JudyS said:

I wonder how she found a live-in caregiver.

It would be extremely difficult to find or retain a qualified, bilingual, live-in caregiver at that rate of compensation, although there are probably plenty of folks out there who, needing a roof over their head, would claim to be qualified.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Keith Woolford

[Bonnie]

A good friend found excellent care here for her father and then her mother. I don't know what was charged/paid, but my friend said it was affordable and that it was one reason she and her husband came to Panama and stayed. Two women shared the responsibility, so there was 24-hour care. She said she located the caregivers through a university in David that offers a degree or courses in gerontology and/or home health care.

[Jim Bondoux]

Here is a new article of interest on expatriating to Boquete:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/it-is-an-act-of-insanity-to-stay-in-the-us-why-this-63-year-old-teacher-ditched-massachusetts-to-retire-in-the-highlands-of-panama-2019-08-23?mod=mw_theo_homepage

[Bud]

52 minutes ago, Jim Bondoux said:

Here is a new article of interest on expatriating to Boquete:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/it-is-an-act-of-insanity-to-stay-in-the-us-why-this-63-year-old-teacher-ditched-massachusetts-to-retire-in-the-highlands-of-panama-2019-08-23?mod=mw_theo_homepage

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.