[HappilyRetired]

Good friends and an extremely nice family were paying $11,000 per month for health coverage, back in 2014. He ran a small renovation business and he had to work hard to make the health care payments. RE renovation was booming back then so he was able to cut it but just barely. Also, the entire family is obese and I think every one of them has type 2 diabetes, among other things.

He was a victim of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA reduced the cost of insurance to most Americans but it screwed over small business owners. Suffice to say, he was not a big fan of the policy.

I've never followed up to learn how that is going. I'm too scared to ask. He is still in business, though.

I think they're victims of gluttony, not the ACA. Live a healthy lifestyle, get to a reasonable weight and then see if they can lower their healthcare premiums. That should be the number one priority.

 

[HappilyRetired]

I agree jlunfirst, I very much prefer our health care over the US system. My point was that if you're stuck with that system then you have to learn how to play the game to your benefit. If all of a family is obese and has diabetes and paying $11,000 a month then their first priority should be a healthy lifestyle. If the premiums drop, then in effect they are being paid to be healthy.

It's "easier" to be unhealthy in Canada because our healthcare system won't bankrupt you if you have a heart attack. I eat quality food, am a heathy weight, and exercise regularly for quality of life. If I lived in the US and faced increasing health care premiums I would do all that and probably more.

 

[HappilyRetired]

For sure.

In both cases, we are told we have the best health care in the world and most of us seem to believe it.

In order to understand the ridiculous amount of overhead and bureaucracy in Canadian health care, I think people need to go to another country for treatment. Literally any country other than Canada or US. Even if someone just has a splinter removed in Panama, they will see a system in which you can walk in, see a physician in a very short amount of time, and leave after paying a comically low bill.

There are a lot of reasons why some countries are inexpensive to live in. I've had good inexpensive medical care in Mexico but I wouldn't want to live there. 6 or 8 weeks in winter is enough.

 

[HappilyRetired]

What didn't you like in a major way, that would deter you from living there permanently.

Just reading some of the attacks on tourists and the grip of the drug cartels, seems to be a very different type of violence. For sure, we have it here, in terms of gangs but our policing is probably a bit different also, etc. Probably best one knows a good Mexican local friend or 2. I'm not talking about ex-pats. ....I see them in a different social realm....in any country. They aren't there permanently so their "commitment" to a country is quite different.

We were in Mazatlan, there were no issues. One of my friends has been there for 4 years and said he has never seen any cartel trouble. He is near the tourist area and from what we've been told Mazatlan is one of the safer places to be. But just like many large cities in Canada and the US, if you stick to the safe neighborhoods and don't walk down dark roads late at night in sketchy areas you'll probably be fine.

But overall it's a lower standard of living that we would be happy with year round.

We like it but don't have a commitment either. We go to get away from winter but if the flaws start to outweigh the benefits we'll just look for a different place.