tallman33

How often do you go to Panama? Do you wish you could go more?

tarzan95959

Not enough ! Yes I do wish I could spend more time there . My Fathers illness has kept me from going this year . It has been a year since we have been to our home there .
There is a pretty good chance we will eventually live full time there as I become older . There health care is much cheaper and I feel the service is just as good .
I am not poor ,by any means ,but there will come a time that I will be forced to leave my home country because of the crazy prices for health care in the States now.

panamapal

When you get much older, will they have a program like medicare in the United States?

tarzan95959

I do know that a Health insurance plan for a family of 4 was about $40 a month . I saw that on a bill board in Panama City .
As far as something along the lines of Medicare for Gringo's in Panama they probably do ,but I bet it is overwhelm . It would be better to to have a private health plan .
Medical cost is MUCHO LESS in Panama . You can actually afford it ! I have often thought a having my teeth straighten ,veneered and the whole works in Panama City . Its a tenth of what they charge in the states .

coolandhot

$40 per month is very little compared to the United States. Is the service still good even though people are paying that little?

tarzan95959

WEll .... That was in Panama City where I saw the bill board . I do know their one hospital, I went by is very nice and a friend went there and had a 3 way heart bypass done . He was happy with his care and stated he would did not see any reason he would ever need to go back to the U.S. for any surgery . I believe it may be a little tougher to get great care in the outter areas of Panama . Most folks in Bocas go to David for anything major .

panamapal

Luckily, I think most major surgeries will allow you to travel to Panama City or the closest qualified hospital. Of course, if you are worried, you can purposely choose to live inside or around Panama City.

Lalaguayaba

Yes, the service is still good--in David and P.C., its fantastic.
Many doctors went to medical school in the U.S., and then had their residencies in the U.S. before they chose to move back to Panama. You find that all over the world; that doctors trained in the U.S., Canada or Europe before moving back to their home countries, bringing a higher level of medicine back with them.

Understand that the dollar goes a lot further in Panama, $40 a month is rather like spending $150 a month in the lower 48.

I really recommend that you do some web-searching on your own so that nothing about Panama surprises you when you first visit. A little google goes a long way.

Cheers!

tallman33

Yeah, I know I've been searching Google a lot for information. Of course, the great thing about these forums is that you can ask your exact question and get personalized answers.

Lalaguayaba

Of course, of course. But many of the questions posted are not exact, they're opinion, speculation or personal experience questions--which is exactly what a forum format is designed to discuss. Far too many of the questions are about information so specific that a quick search easily answers the question posed, i.e. history: political, military, colonial; geography: weather, topography, place names, etc. Ask.com can help, google can help, of course the Wiki is free and good for quotes, but should be independently verified, The C.I.A. Factbook is an excellent resource, Embassy/consulate websites, The C.D.C. site section on international health--these are good places to start for the basics. When it gets down to 'where in Panama do you prefer to surf, etc.? Then its forum time, otherwise it appears as if one never developed any research skills.

And many questions are doubled, perhaps from not reading previous posts, or not utilizing the search function in order to see whether or not the subject has ever been broached--and then, of course, my favorite, when the thread goes so far off topic as to be totally unrelated to the original post, ex. this one.

Cheers!