Health and Dental Care While Cruising
How to pay for health care is a huge concern for everyone, cruisers included. There is some good news, however. Once you leave the United States, health care costs plummet. Secondly, in places like Mexico, there are very low cost health insurance options.
When Terry and Jonesy Morris of the Chula Vista-based Gulfstar Sailmaster 50 Niki Wiki decided to quit their jobs, sell their house, furniture and car, and get rid of everything else in order to start living, they couldn’t afford health care because of a series of pre-existing conditions. Faced with the choice of either going to work for a big company so they could get on a group policy and not being able to cruise, or self-insuring so they could "go out and live," they decided on the latter.
They’ve been having a great time cruising Mexico and Central America in the four years since they did the ’06 Ha-Ha, but then Terry needed to have emergency laparoscopic surgery to remove her gall bladder while they were spending the summer up the Rio Dulce. Here’s her concise report:
"The total cost was $5,000 U.S. That included three nights and four days in the upscale and modern university hospital in Guatemala City. This cost included the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and primary care doctor fees, as well as all tests, medications, and follow-up care. It was one of my best hospital experiences, and I’ve had six other surgeries, all of them in the United States."
In case anybody thinks all health care outside of the United States is substandard, let’s repeat her last sentence: "It was one of my best hospital experiences, and I’ve had six other surgeries, all of them in the United States."
"So far, we have been quite happy with the medical and dental services we’ve received," continues Terry. "Jonesy, my husband, had an urgent and extensive root canal and crown procedure in El Salvador. It was done by an endodontist who was trained in the States. The total cost for the two dentists, plus the crown, was $350. In addition, we have had routine dental cleanings and check-ups for between $25 to $40, and filling repairs for $25 — all by English-speaking dentists. A walk-in, same-day mammogram at a private hospital was $35, with the typed radiologist report and films available for pick-up the next day. Routine blood-work is done inexpensively on demand at laboratories."
To add a little perspective on the situation, a Sausalito sailor we know had the same surgery a couple years ago at Marin General. The total amount billed to the insurance company? $80,000! And that didn’t include any overnight stays — he was forced to check out six hours after the surgery — or follow-up care.
Let’s see, there are no signs that the U.S. job market is going to improve anytime soon, used sailboats are selling for all-time low prices, the cost of pleasure cruising south of the border is well under what’s considered poverty level in the United States, and health insurance and health care south of the U.S. is both good and reasonable. For some people, deciding to opt out of what for too many has become the ‘new normal’ in the United States in search of a better quality of life might not be such a bad idea.