Medicare in Mexico?

[La Huerita]

Just published this morning. What do you think about the possibility of this ever becoming a reality?

Last March Rocky Point Tides published an article about Hospital Cima Hermosillo, a world-class hospital owned by Dallas-based International Hospital Corp. (IHC), signing a contract with Companion Global Healthcare Inc. to be included in its network, making it possible for Blue Cross and Blue Shield members to seek treatment there. (See Medical Tourism in Mexico and American Insurance Companies) Procedures covered include cardiology, gynecology and orthopedic surgeries, and there are no deductibles to pay. Members now have access to the hospital's 60% discount of what the U.S. price is.

At about the same time that article was written, Paul Crist, a former aid to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md. who now operates a hotel in Puerto Vallarta, founded the non-profit Americans For Medicare In Mexico (AMMAC). He has since lobbied 85 members in the U.S. Congress to get Medicare accepted south of the border, and his efforts seem to be gaining some traction.

Approximately 800,000 Americans live in Mexico, with about a quarter of them over the age of 60, which makes them eligible for Medicare. Studies show that about 64% of them currently have to fly or drive back to the USA for care that is covered by Medicare; the remaining 36% receive treatment in Mexico and pick up the costs themselves. Crist postulates that if Medicare were accepted in Mexico, most of the 64% flying back to the USA would instead opt for treatment nearer their homes, cutting Medicare's overall costs by a minimum of 22% net.

Studies show that medical care in Mexico costs about 70% less than the same care in the USA. With the Baby Boomer generation rapidly entering retirement age, the savings to Medicare from Boomers choosing to move to Mexico, or receive medical care there, could be even more substantial within the next few decades.

AMMAC and David Warner, a professor of health care policy at the University of Texas at Austin and a specialist on Medicare in Mexico, are both proposing an in-depth three-year Mexico-Medicare pilot project to better understand the economics, determine whether Mexican health care meets Medicare's quality standards and determine if the payment system is sufficiently free of fraud. To that point, they are seeking U.S. Congressional authorization for a Demonstration Project for Medicare in Mexico.

Read the rest of it at http://rptides.blogspot.com/2009/09/medicare-in-mexico.html

So, will the insurance companies, big pharma, etc. in the USA fight this potential threat to their profits, or does the program actually have a chance? How do you full-timers handle medical issues arising in RP? Your thoughts?

 

[JimMcG]

Insurance companies already send people to Mexico for certain procedures because they pay 70% less, thereby decreasing their costs.

 

[Roberto]

La H;
How reliable do you consider the information that Slim's Ideal company is investing in Penasco Medical? There has been street talk about this and I know a guy who reported he was meeting with Slim in February but heard nothing after that. Gustavo Brown's name was also mentioned in association with this effort and the Gonzales of Americare Medical, the one that lost his license in the States.

There is a 'street report' (meaning unconfirmed by me) that there is a new very large subdivision development planned between the Caborca highway and the Morua. I think it is the 'Sol' parcel that has been for sale.The limited information I got indicated that a hospital was included and the target market was 'retiring baby boomers' from the US. Supposedly there is an architect somewhere near Super Ley that has all the poop. What do you know?

 

[La Huerita]

Roberto, here's some of what I know for a fact. Slim's company Ideal (Impulsora del Desarollo y el Empleo en America Latina) bought a 49% stake in Grupo Star Medica in 2007. Ideal also owns a few of Star Medica's buildings, though Slim is primarily involved as an investor and in building the hospitals. Together they've been busy opening hospitals all over Mexico catering to both the local and international market. Besides providing better health care at an affordable price to Mexicans, at least some of the hospitals (especially in border cities like Mexicali and Tijuana where medical tourism is already well established) will target American patients for elective surgery such as arthroscopy and laparoscopy. Guadalajara, Tijuana, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, and Cancun currently account for the bulk of the medical tourism business in Mexico.

The story regarding the plan for Penasco and Los Cabos was first broken in March last year by Mexidata and Frontera NorteSur. I haven't been able to find any updates on it, and back in 2007 Slim mentioned in an interview in the Arizona Star that such a plan would require the cooperation of Medicare (sorry, I no longer have the link to that story at hand.) I suspect (but don't know) that Slim may be waiting for the right time-- like when the economy improves and Medicare has a chance of being approved for expats, something like that.

But in the meantime, they are going full speed ahead with hospitals in other parts of Mexico so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that such a hospital will eventually be built in Penasco. So, as usual, believe it when you see it.

I, too, have heard rumors of a new hospital planned out near Morua, and there have long been rumors about Slim being interested in development around there-- but nothing recent. I've also heard of a hospital supposedly planned for Sandy Beach (maybe in the huge Penasco Bay development?), and that Grupo Mayan plans one for its La Jolla de Cortez master project. No details on any of it have been forthcoming, so I take it all with a big grain of salt for the time being.

If you hear anything that has any oomph behind it, let me know.

PS: Doesn't the Brown family still own property out around Playa La Jolla and Playa Encanto? Or did they sell that?

 

[Roberto]

PS: Doesn't the Brown family still own property out around Playa La Jolla and Playa Encanto? Or did they sell that?

No Se. I'll ask around.



Thanks for the info. The guy I referred to that said he was meeting with Slim is still around, I think. I'l gonna track him down ans see what the bull is now.

I do know a gent that is actively trying to open a long term care facility for Americans in Penasco. This medical stuff is a chicken and egg problem, people won't come without a hospital and hospital won't survive without people.

 

[playaperro]

Roberto, here's some of what I know for a fact. Slim's company Ideal (Impulsora del Desarollo y el Empleo en America Latina) bought a 49% stake in Grupo Star Medica in 2007. Ideal also owns a few of Star Medica's buildings, though Slim is primarily involved as an investor and in building the hospitals. Together they've been busy opening hospitals all over Mexico catering to both the local and international market. Besides providing better health care at an affordable price to Mexicans, at least some of the hospitals (especially in border cities like Mexicali and Tijuana where medical tourism is already well established) will target American patients for elective surgery such as arthroscopy and laparoscopy. Guadalajara, Tijuana, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, and Cancun currently account for the bulk of the medical tourism business in Mexico.

The story regarding the plan for Penasco and Los Cabos was first broken in March last year by Mexidata and Frontera NorteSur. I haven't been able to find any updates on it, and back in 2007 Slim mentioned in an interview in the Arizona Star that such a plan would require the cooperation of Medicare (sorry, I no longer have the link to that story at hand.) I suspect (but don't know) that Slim may be waiting for the right time-- like when the economy improves and Medicare has a chance of being approved for expats, something like that.

But in the meantime, they are going full speed ahead with hospitals in other parts of Mexico so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that such a hospital will eventually be built in Penasco. So, as usual, believe it when you see it.

I, too, have heard rumors of a new hospital planned out near Morua, and there have long been rumors about Slim being interested in development around there-- but nothing recent. I've also heard of a hospital supposedly planned for Sandy Beach (maybe in the huge Penasco Bay development?), and that Grupo Mayan plans one for its La Jolla de Cortez master project. No details on any of it have been forthcoming, so I take it all with a big grain of salt for the time being.

If you hear anything that has any oomph behind it, let me know.

PS: Doesn't the Brown family still own property out around Playa La Jolla and Playa Encanto? Or did they sell that?

Danny Brown owed property out in La jolla, He passed away about 3 or 4 years ago.
Gus Brown Sr. passed about 2 years ago, Gus Brown Jr. owner of sandy beach resorts just bought a big parcel of land coming into town from the north.

 

[Roberto]

Who is Google Gus Brown, Gus Brown's son? Funny name, Google.

 

[Terry C]

I can tell you one thing about Danny Brown, He made good on a deal I had in LaJolla years ago that I had with someone. RIP Danny