A Prime Benefit for Expats

Here in the Bay Area you could easily pay more just to park while visiting a local doctor than it would cost in some foreign countries for an actual doctor’s appointment. And for aging cruisers, the cost of medical care is ever-increasing in importance.

Frank Nitte, a former San Diego sailor who, with his partner Shirley Duffield, now calls Panama home, shared the following illustration of why more and more cruisers, retirees and ‘medical tourists’ are setting their sights on that Central American nation these days.

"Many cruisers have been talking recently about medical costs and quality in Latin America, compared to the U.S. Well, I can tell you about Panama. I had to get rushed to the hospital (by Shirley) on August 1 with severe pain in my left side and groin. Kidney stones! Ouch! Very painful. We first went to our regular doctor’s office, where he said I needed to go to the hospital. I spent time in the emergency room with IVs and painkillers, then they wheeled me up to a private room, where I was on IVs, painkillers and antibiotics all night. The next morning I had a CT scan and ultrasound, then went back up to the room. I got released about 3 p.m. as I must have passed the stones. Total bill: $800 USD — hospital and doc: $550; CT scan: $250. The nurses were great. The doctor was great. The hospital was clean and efficiently run.

"Just the situation at check-in is telling: We arrived at the emergency room at about 8 p.m. and it was full of people. I sat while Shirley got in line to check in. I couldn’t sit anymore, so I started pacing. The lady behind the desk asked me if I wanted a chair. I told her in my finest Spanish that I couldn’t sit, I was in too much pain. She looked at the paperwork from my doctor, then immediately ran into the ER, got a nurse with a wheelchair, and they took me into the ER to hook me up to IVs and painkillers. This was before Shirley even started talking to her or started filling out the paperwork! Needless to say, this would never, ever happen in the USA!"