Saturday evening, March 13, 2010, Jim was rubbing his right eye furiously. “Darn it, my eye is itchy!” he said.

Jim went to look in the bathroom mirror, and called me to have a look at his already reddened right eye.

“I think I rubbed my eye, to much, Maryann! Maybe I rubbed something right out of my eyeball.” said a worried Jim.

Jim’s eye was getting angrier and redder while I looked at it under our ceiling fan light.

“Jim, we should go now to the emergency at the Almater Hospital.” I said.

We got into our truck, and in no time were parking it in the car park of the Almater Hospital here in Mexicali.

We entered the emergency section of the hospital, only to be told that there was no doctor on call.  It was Saturday night.

Well, I don’t understand why emergencies have to happen on weekends or holidays for us, but it does.

“I have our passports in my handbag, and we are going to cross the border to go to the El Centro Hospital in the U.S. Jim,” I told him calmly.

“Shall I drive or do you want to with your one red swollen eye Jim?” I asked.

“I’m drivin’, and I can see Maryann? What do you think I am one of them Cyclops guys like in the movies?  Geez, I can see!” said  Jim.

“Okie Dokie!” I said.

It took us a quick one hour to cross the border on a late Saturday night, and Jim drove carefully to the El Centro Hospital. I must say the roads are not that well lit, but we got there in one piece.

After parking the truck, we walked quickly to the Emergency Room of the hospital.  The waiting room was empty! Great!

Jim went up to the girl behind the window counter and told her that he needed to see a doctor for his swollen eye.

“I have Medicare” said Jim giving his Medicare card to the girl.

The girl said we could enter the door to the next room, where the nurse told Jim to sit down, asking him what had happened, all the while taking notes.

A doctor was on duty, and a nurse signaled Jim to a room with a bed. “Oh, Mr. Dogooder, you’ll be just fine now,” said the nurse, “doctor will be right with you—don’t you worry about a thing now.”

“Hey, these folks are real nice,” said Jim calming down.

Two other nurses came into the room, “Mr. Dogooder, it’s your eye?” asked one of the nurses, “that’s the only problem—anything else?”

“Nope that’s it,” said Jim who was now lying down on the bed, while I sat on the chair by the side of the door.

A doctor came into the room and greeted Jim, “Well, hello there! You are Mr. Jim Dogooder? Eye itching correct? And you live in Mexicali.”

“Yes, there were no doctors at the main hospital in Mexicali so we came here. I’m on Medicare Doc” said Jim.

“Yes, good,” said the kind doctor, “Now let’s just take a look at that eye.”

“Yup, it’s looking red and angry. Tell you what we are going to do.  I am going to put some eye drops into your eye.  With these drops, we can look and see if there is any damage done to the cornea. Ok?” said the kind doctor, cheerfully.

“Nurse, the drops please,” said the doctor. Then, turning to Jim, “You’ll be just fine; there’s no pain whatsoever, and we will know what to give you for that little nasty redness. OK?” smiled the doctor.

After the eye drops, and looking at Jim’s eye with a special magnifying glass, the cheerful doctor called me over and said, “See, all those straight lines, scratches, on his eyeball?”

“Yes, I can see them,” I said, “that’s where Jim was rubbing his eye.

The doctor pushed back in his chair and said, “Only scratches, he’s fine—no eye damage at all!  I am going put some antibiotic eye ointment in Jim’s eye—Garamycin.”

The nurse handed the doctor a small tube, and the doctor moved forward and squeezed a bit of ointment into Jim’s eye, and handed the tube back to the nurse.

The doctor then said, “I am going to give you two Vicodin tablets, and a prescription for more.”

Jim sat up. The doctor continued, “Now, I would watch that eye Jim. Here’s a list of ophthalmologists if you have any more problems, just make an appointment with one of them. You’re good to go!”

As Jim stood up, the nurse handed him a small plastic container, “Here’s your Vicodin and a prescription for more.”

“Thank you Ma’am,” said Jim.

The nurse replied, “Now, that wasn’t so bad was it? You will be just fine. Let me put a patch on that eye.”

“A patch on my eye? I won’t be able to drive back to Mexicali!” said a worried Jim.”

Mrs. Dogooder, you can drive?” asked the smiling nurse.

“Yes no problem” I said.

The nurse smiled, “Men, they can be such babies—now when you feel pain, Mr. Dogooder, just take one Vicodin and you’ll be just fine! Your wife will be in charge for now.”

The doctor waived a cheery goodbye and left saying, “Yes, the nurse is going to put a patch on that eye, so let the little lady do the driving tonight.”

Jim and I left the El Centro Hospital, happy that Jim’s eye was fine, even though he felt out of place in the passenger seat.

On our way back home to Mexicali, we stopped by a Denny’s near the Wal-Mart in Calexico, where Jim and I ordered grand slam breakfasts, pancakes, and chocolate milkshakes.

“When we got back home, Jim said, “Well, MaryAnn, that was great! Everyone was so nice and all.”

“Well, all’s well that ends well,” I said.

And Medicare will take care of it!” smiled a contented Jim, removing his eye-patch.

A month later a bill arrived from the El Centro Hospital. It was for $911.45.

We were stunned – what about Medicare?

For that little bit of ointment the doctor squeezed into Jim’s eye, the charge was $87.46—and the doctor kept the tube! The charge for the eye drops the doctor put in Jim’s eye was $63.44! The use of the emergency room area cost $738.29. With some other incidentals and accidentals, it all added up to $911.45.

We had been paying $96 a month for Medicare Part B for over ten years – they take it directly out of your Social Security check.

During that time Jim went to the doctors twice at most. Ten years at $96 a month equals $11,520, taken out of our Social Security. I think very few folks on Social Security can afford that.

Jim showed Matthew and me the bill, while he looked for his recliner to sit down. “My head’s spinning!!! How can it be $911.45 for what they did?” Jim asked. “I have Medicare!”

The next morning, Jim telephoned Medicare. The conversation did not last long. The Medicare lady explained that if you don’t have Medicare Part B—you’ve got virtually nothing, and that the $911.45 charge was correct and that Medicare would pay nothing.

“But your website clearly states that Medicare Part A gives you coverage for hospital both inpatient and outpatient.”

The Medicare lady said she was sorry, but the website was misleading.

She went on to say that, without Medicare Part B, even in a hospital, the doctor’s charges are not covered.

This means that if you don’t have Part B, and you are rushed to the hospital, and a doctor has to operate, you could be faced with a huge doctor bill.

Looking at Jim’s $911.45 hospital bill, it seems that Medicare Part A pays nothing, which is more or less what the Medicare lady told Jim.

All those years of Medicare deductions from Jim’s salary—all for nothing. Jim couldn’t even get Part B if he wanted to, as the door for that closed last March.

Just last week another medical bill arrived!

It was for $246.00 and was from some outfit called the Alpine Emergency Medical Group in Westminster, CA. We figure that this must be the bill for the cheery El Centro doctor bringing the total to $1,157.49. This is price gouging by the health care industry. No wonder medical costs in America is double what they are in any other country.

The Medicare website stated that Part A paid for Inpatient AND Outpatient care.

Since Jim complained—Medicare has changed its website.

Originally the Medicare website used to be red and said that Part A provided inpatient AND outpatient hospital coverage.

Now the Medicare website is green and blue and  has eliminated the outpatient coverage. What a bunch of crooks!

If you have only Medicare Part A, you have NO insurance at all.

What a scam!

That combined with the fact that Jim’s job went to some guy in China makes my blood boil!

Here’s what the new U.S. health care “reform” bill has in store for Americans:

• A 50% increase in the cost of a premium for a pre-existing condition.
• No public option where everybody would get it free, like in some other countries.
• No Medicare buy-in where 55-plus people can pay to get Medicare.
• Compulsory health insurance for everybody, like car insurance.
• Fines and potential jail time for failure to sign up with a health insurance company.
• Hundreds of millions in payoffs to Senators to get them to vote for the bill.

That doesn’t sound great to me, at all.

I sure hope the compulsory part of the bill doesn’t apply to Americans living in Mexico.

If Jim and I had to pay U.S. health insurance premiums we would go broke, and so would a lot of folks.

In Mexico, the health insurance system is much better, but don’t take my word for it. Here’s what CBS News has to say:

Some Senior Citizens are Finding Sunshine and Affordable Health Insurance in Mexico

(CBS)  For American retirees the Pacific coast town of Manzanillo, Mexico is paradise. The weather is always warm. Every home has a view, without a million dollar price tag. And a doctor’s visit doesn’t cost a penny out of pocket.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports Billy and Sandi Hunter retired to their dream home in Manzanillo. Then they learned they hit the healthcare jackpot: full medical, dental and vision coverage for $600 a year.

“It was a great deal, and the care is good,” Billy said.

The Hunters bought into the Mexican Social Security Institute, or IMSS – a government-run health care plan for Mexican employees but open to legal foreigners.

“When we leave our doctor’s office, if we have a prescription we go pick it up,” Sandi said. “No charge, so we like it.”

There are no limits, no deductibles and no co-pays. Even pre-existing conditions are covered after the first one to two years.

Doctor Ivan Ocadiz is a doctor in Manzanillo’s IMSS hospital. He said the number of patients from the U.S. increases month by month.

The hospital is new, but without the comforts of a U.S. facility: few private rooms, extras like blankets are brought from home, and families are expected to help feed and bathe patients. But when it comes to diagnosis and treatment, Americans here say it’s just as good, sometimes better than the U.S.

Craig McDole was taking more than a dozen pills prescribed in the U.S. when he collapsed on a tennis court in Mexico. He went to an IMSS hospital.

“When my internist there saw what I was taking, he went nuts. What do they have you on all this medicine for?” he said.

McDole’s feeling well now. Dr. Ocadiz said, “he’s perfect.”

But the system isn’t perfect: long lines, waiting lists, not enough doctors or in some cases, not enough medications.

IMSS is designed for Mexican workers who’ve been paying into the system for decades and it’s already financially strained. Some worry a flood of American retirees could bankrupt it. The Hunters would like to see their own government come up with an alternative.

“I wish they could stop arguing and find a way to help as many people as are helped here,” Sandi said. “This is simple. It’s not perfect, but a lot of people get good care.”

Without it, the Hunters would struggle to afford paradise in their golden years.

Mexican health insurance is a whole lot better than what you get in the U.S.

OK, what if you live in Mexico and have no health insurance, like us?

Well, here’s an article from International Living on the subject.

(By the way, you can check all my quotes by clicking on the blue links.)

Health Care in Mexico-High Quality, Low Cost

By Glynna Prentice

When I decided to move overseas, I made sure I would have access to excellent, affordable health care. After all, I only wanted to downsize my expenses-not lower my quality of life.

That’s why I picked Mexico. I’d heard that Mexico’s medical professionals and hospitals are first-rate, while the cost is only a fraction of what you’d pay in the U.S. I’ve lived in Mexico nearly three years now, and so far I’ve never been disappointed. My own medical care has been all that I’d hoped. Other expats I’ve spoken with report the same thing.

My first experience with Mexican health care was pretty minor. I cut my thumb while slicing vegetables, and needed stitches. At the clinic I was moved to the head of the line-I saw a doctor right away. The stitches weren’t the dissolvable kind that I was used to in the States, but otherwise the prep and treatment were similar. The other difference was the fee: less than $5. In the U.S., I probably would have had to add a couple of zeroes to that bill.

As I say, a few stitches are pretty minor. But low fees are the rule here rather than the exception. Most specialists, for instance, charge between 350 and 500 pesos ($27 to $38) for a consultation. I pay 400 pesos (about $31) to see an internist. A local gynecologist here in Campeche-whose lab equipment is cutting-edge-charges 350 pesos for a consultation, and 500 to 700 pesos ($38 to $55) for an ultrasound. The gynecologist takes her time with patients, too-no rushing.

Dental work is also cheaper. I lost part of a back tooth some months back, and the dentist said I’d need more than a filling to repair it. He took a mold of the tooth and had his lab create a replacement for the missing section. I returned the next week for a fitting. The entire cost-for both visits, the mold, and the fitting-was less than $100.

Well, there you go. Even without health insurance, Mexico has better and more affordable health care.

With or without health insurance, Mexico wins.

No wonder so many retirees and other Americans are moving to Mexico! It’s such a shame when patriotic Americans, like Jim and me, can’t afford to live in our own country!

There’s no way people like us, with modest means, could survive with the U.S. health care system.

We could easily wind up on the sidewalk like that poor woman on LA’s skid row…and so could you!