# Mexican Residency and Medicare



## sfmaestra (Oct 8, 2013)

Hi Experts, I'm not there yet, but I am curious about something as I plan my future:

If one is a legal temporary resident here in México (a U.S. citizen) and is over 65 years of age, will payments to Medicare come out of one's SS check even though one resides in México (this kind of makes sense since one is "temporarily residing" in México)?

If one is a legal PERMANENT resident here in México (a U.S. citizen) and is over 65 years of age, is the situation any different?

The question for me is: How to NOT lose money from SS check for health insurance in the U.S. when I have to pay for it here in México.

Thank you for any insight you might give me. I searched the forum unsuccessfully before posting.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

sfmaestra said:


> Hi Experts, I'm not there yet, but I am curious about something as I plan my future:
> 
> If one is a legal temporary resident here in México (a U.S. citizen) and is over 65 years of age, will payments to Medicare come out of one's SS check even though one resides in México (this kind of makes sense since one is "temporarily residing" in México)?
> 
> ...


I am no expert on Medicare so someone can correct me if I am missing something.

If you earned Social Security coverage, Medicare Part A doesn't cost anything. And Medicare Parts B, C, and D are optional.

Medicare doesn't know or care about your status in Mexico so I don't see how that can affect your Medicare status.

One other thing to keep in mind is that a move to Mexico may not be permanent. While some find it just what they want, not everyone does. There are penalties if you don't sign up for Part B at first, then decide to later.

PS Thank you for checking to see if your question had already been discussed before posting.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I am no expert on Medicare so someone can correct me if I am missing something.
> 
> If you earned Social Security coverage, Medicare Part A doesn't cost anything. And Medicare Parts B, C, and D are optional.
> 
> ...


TG has provided an accurate summary of the situation. In my case, I decided to opt out of Medicare Part B because it would have cost me around $100 (that's US dollars not pesos!) a month to opt in. Not sure if the other Parts existed when I turned 65.


----------



## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

As others have said, basic Medicare comes with your Social Security check at no extra charge. The other parts, you pay for, and there are penalties if you drop them and later decide you want them back.

What you do about all this depends mainly on whether you intend to be a lifelong resident of Mexico or intend to be a part timer. In any case, you can't get treatment for illness under Medicare unless you go back to the States to get it.
(or unless it's an emergency while you're a "visitor" here, as in vacationer).
You can buy private insurance of many varieties to cover yourself in Mexico. There is also a low cost public plan, but it's "no frills" at all. Medical care in general is good quality at a low cost, compared to the U.S., and many people just pay out of pocket when they need it.


----------



## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

I haven't lived in the US since the early '80s. I've been in Mexico full time for seven years and plan to stay here. But I enrolled in Medicare Part B anyhow, because I "never say never". There may come a day when it makes sense to return to the US. If so, it's likely to be later rather than sooner, so the penalty would be higher than I could afford to pay under those circumstances.

Medicare knew I lived in Mexico because I applied for Social Security from here, and my La Paz address is my address of record with them. I don't have a residence in the US.


----------



## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

There are two basic points of view on Part B of Medicare.
POV #1: Cancel Part B, save the money and if you hang in there long enough, it will probably pay for any procedure you need done in Mexico.

POV#2: Keep Part B "just in case" as expressed by Makaloco.

In my case, since there were two of us, I canceled it. So, multiply ten years' residence times over $200 per month and you have a chubby little medical savings account.

Who knows? Hands of fate here.


----------



## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

*Gettin' Closer*

Yep, gettin' closer to having to make Medicare decisions, so here are some preguntas and I need respuestas.

1. My last US residence was in Maryland, where do I apply for Medicare?
2. Is Medicare nationwide, IOW, does it matter?
3. The debate on Part B seems inconclusive, any thoughts out there?
4. I already have catastrophic coverage thru a Best Doctors group that was formed here (about $1,000 USD/year, $3,000 USD deductible, good world wide, $1 million USD limited each year/no med exam under certain age/pre-existings only in first year) based on this, would you opt for all parts of Medicare?
5. How does one use Medicare, obviously only in the US, when one does not have a US address/residence any more?

Yep, we get older...never thought I'd be asking these questions...but the alternative to that is, shall we say, less than inviting?

Peace


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

FHBOY said:


> Yep, gettin' closer to having to make Medicare decisions, so here are some preguntas and I need respuestas.
> 
> 1. My last US residence was in Maryland, where do I apply for Medicare?
> 2. Is Medicare nationwide, IOW, does it matter?
> ...


Medicare uses the same address as Social Security. I believe you need a US mailing address but it can be anywhere. I use my son's address. (note added. Apparently a US address is not necessary)

Like you, I have other medical coverage, so I just subscribed to the free Part A of Medicare.

I have never used it, but I think you just show them your Medicare card when you go for treatment.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We do not have a US addres for SS , you do not need one. We do not have Medicare so I do not know about them,i


----------



## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

An interesting topic. I am 72 and my wife is 67. We have lived full time in Mexico since early2001 when I was 59 and she 54. We both are naturalized Mexican citizens after years as FM-2 and then "Inmigrado" or today´s "Residente Permanente". We have no U.S. address and never have had one since retiring to Mexico, either actual, immediate family or mailing addresses. We are eligible for Medicare and have Part "A", opting out of Part "B" after a couple of months after realizing that Part "B" would cost us $2,400USD a year which, today, had we elected to carry Part "B" when each was eligible, we would so far have spent over $10,000 in aggregate in nettings from our social security monthly benefits so we are pleased with our decisión made a few years ago.

It is important that we have concluded since we moved to Mexico that, unless there is some sort of medical benefit unavailable in Mexico - a benefit we have yet to identify excpept, perhaps an organ transplant, the availability of which to us in the U.S. presuming our having found a doctor and short waiting list would be unlikely to say the least - this monthy payment for Part "B" was a substantial waste of money. 

We have learned from experience, our access to Medicare, whether Part "A" or "B" in an emergency, a process that would require our moving back to the U.S. and finding a doctor and hospital that would serve us under Medicare - a virtually impossible undertaking and, anyway, our Medicare out-of-pocket deductibles are such, considering the extreme costs of medical care in the U.S., that Medicare would be an illogical alternative for us so we opted out of paying anything for this proferred service. Further, from personal experience in 2008 while we were residing in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, a nice town but with somewhat primitive medical services, and I had an emergency need for immediate gall bladder removal, I got this done where I was at the time if I wished to survive and was not going to fly off to Guadalajara much less Houston or some such place in the U.S. in that situation - believe me - I wasn´t flying anyhere just hoping the ambulance didn´t run out of gas before we got to that lousy local hospital. When I had that gall bladder atack in San Cristóbal , even though my insurance company would have paid for emergency air transportation to any city in Mexico, I knew that some local specialist sevrices administered by an unknown physician at a raunchy local hospital was required and immediately and was my only alternative. I inquired as to whether the San Cristóbal gastrointestinal surgeon offering to removed my gall bladder was the best in town and was informed that that point was moot as (this was during Christmas holidays) as he was the _only _gastrointestinal surgeon in town at that time as the rest were on vacation so I could take him or keep my diseased gall bladder which was intent on killing me forthwith. Everything turned out well but, I promise you, Medicare was not even remotely an option. If you buy Part "B", unless you still have a leg in the U.S., you are buying a "Pig in a Poke".

By the way, to protect us from catastrophic financial ruin, we do carry unlimited major medical care insurance issued by a reputable major international insurance company with a $30,000Peso deductible per event and our annual premium is a bit over $60,000 Pesos at this point. The policy is non-cancellable but the annual premiums go up every year and, no doubt, become quite expensive when one becomes really old. We have had this policy since I was 60 and my wife was 55 at the time. I doubt we could qualify for this insurance today if we signed up as new clients. If the reader is in his/her 70s, this is one of those things that you should have done a while back. Too late.


----------



## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

We were a little faster on the trigger than Hound Dog in cancelling Part B, so our savings over ten years in Mexico are substantial.
The simple logistics of trying to go back to the states, especially in an emergency situation, are stressful enough to make you sick if you were perfectly healthy.
Those who have access to the big city hospitals and doctors here in Mexico are probably going to get the best care available. 
None of us are going to get out of this alive anyway, so might as well stay "home" for the duration.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I do not think you are talking about Hound Dog as he never signed up fro part B and neither did I. We are self insurred in Mexico and since the States are not a possibility as I do not have a visa to live there any longer, we will not use Medicare..


----------



## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

"We are eligible for Medicare and have Part "A", opting out of Part "B" after a couple of months after realizing that Part "B" would cost us $2,400USD a year which, today, had we elected to carry Part "B" when each was eligible, we would so far have spent over $10,000 in aggregate in nettings from our social security monthly benefits so we are pleased with our decisión made a few years ago." (Hound dog)

I got the impression you had it and then opted out from that statement. No matter. You saved a bundle by not having it.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Some of us have insurance that came with our retirement and it requires that we have A&B, so we have no choice.
Then, the spouse figures that we will eventually return to the USA and insists that she carry part B. So, there goes $2500 USD per year that we cannot afford to lose.
Those penalties are really unfair, but we remain helpless to change them.


----------



## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Medicare Part "B for those eligible living full time in Mexico"? Why not just take a $100USD bill and ritualistically flush it down the commode once a month praying to the God of Excrement for deluverence with your sacrifice who, by the way, has as much or more to do with this earth and its functionality as the God of the Skies.


----------



## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

RVGRINGO said:


> Some of us have insurance that came with our retirement and it requires that we have A&B, so we have no choice.
> Then, the spouse figures that we will eventually return to the USA and insists that she carry part B. So, there goes $2500 USD per year that we cannot afford to lose.
> Those penalties are really unfair, but we remain helpless to change them.


RV:

If I understand you, your spouse wants to maintain Medicare Part "B" because you "may" return to the states eventually. The financial decisión is for the two of you to make. There is no chance we will voluntarly return to the U.S. even though that decisión has more to do with our love for mexico than our rejection of the U.S. If medical necessities require our return then we will (shudder) move back there and pay the back Part "B" fees and penalties but that is not what we dread. We also dread the fact that the closest place for proper medical attention for us in the U.S. is Texas so the fundamental question is whether accepting Texas citizenship outways death as an escape from human civility. Death requires no adjustment to eating fried corn sticks as a staple so that event seems less painful.


----------



## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

What is saying about things being inevitable?
Was it "death and taxes" or "death and Texas"? I forget.


----------

