With my being here on Roatan, (and it really makes little difference to me politically on which side my readers are on in regard to all the trauma going on in the U.S. regarding the medical situation in the U.S.), because much of what happens there matters little to us here, especially medical care.
It seems that the past couple of year’s health insurance has gone up pretty much no matter where you are but that said we feel we have a pretty good situation here living on Roatan.
It seems that in the U.S. after you reach your deductible or pay your co-pay or pay your end of the 80/20 split, medical can still be pretty pricey. Much of what we do here we just pull out the wallet or purse and smile.
Let me give you some examples. An office visit for a General Practitioner Doctor here is normally between $15.00 U.S. and $25.00. If they decide that you need some blood and or other lab tests? Not a problem. Total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, urinalysis? That will cost you between $20.00 and $35.00 U.S depending on where you go. There are places on the mainland where you can get scans, (quality scans, I know I just got them done and U.S. doctors told me they were top notch), a virtual colonoscopy for $271.00 U.S. and a full body scan for $619.00, (which detects things like an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, something that most people in the ‘developed counties’ would not even know they had until it was too late). Mammogram? $47.00, a DEXA (Osteoporosis) test $57.00, Abdominal Ultra Sound ? $42.00. My ENT Specialist charges $67.00 for an office visit and a top quality orthopedic surgeon that did his residency at Mayo in Minneapolis charges about $80.00 U.S.
I guess my point here is much of what you may want or need on a regular basis is available and is normally less than what your co-pay or the 20% may be, by a considerable margin.
By the time your doctors office there process the claim, and then the insurance company tells you that the amount charged is above the ‘reasonable and customary charge’, it is normally a lot cheaper and a lot less aggravation to just open your wallet and pay it. You can do that here.
