Yes, I agree with you @busdriver11 I was intrigued by the lower WHO ranking of the US compared to other developed countries. Apparently, the difference is explained by “poor health” of the population driven by social inequality and poverty, and by individual behavior in social contexts, rather than by “poor health care”. Therefore, while this difference may affect the average life expectancy of the population, it would have very little impact on the outcomes for the well-off American individuals who can afford to retire in the said countries. So, my questions were about the economical benefits of retiring abroad as described by other posters, rather than the alleged health benefits.
@ChoatieMom I was thinking the same thing as I read through this thread. How unfortunate that the cost of healthcare seems to be the primary point in a discussion about retirement. And, yet, so many still think that universal healthcare isn’t a good idea. Very fortunate that our family will never have to worry about this.
There is no such thing a a right to healthcare as somebody got to pay for it…unless you want to have MDs who are working for free. If you find few thousands people who are willing to work for free as MDs, go ahead, organize your free health care for people who feel that they are entitled, that the health care is their right. I am not going to be one of them, I know way too well what free health care means, way too sad to mention, it is really bad thing, it costs people their lives!!
The US may find a way to have a high standard of care with health care, and including more with insurance. The poor and uninsured are where problems lie. Canada and Great Britain’s socialize medicine is not to what US people want. In Canada, an Ophthalmologist is allocated to do so many surgery procedures within the health ministry budget. So he/she may do all these procedures in the first 4 or 5 calendar months of the year, and the rest of the year they close up shop. Upper income folks in those countries pay for private care or hold private insurance too for better health care.
Our area has a community free clinic where retired docs, some volunteer nurses and some paid staff work (with community grants and donations) - it does help with working people w/o insurance and also keep some people out of the emergency rooms. The docs don’t have to keep malpractice insurance under the community care charter. We also have at certain schools dental and health clinics which are free care. Same thing for the retired health professionals. I imagine the school nurse does help coordinate referrals.
More and more people qualifying for Medicare and Social Security is going to strain our federal budgets more and more. 3500 abortions/day is also having an influence, although immigration is probably taking care of more young workers.
Unarguably we are in the greatest country in the world for the size of our population - our economy, our stock markets etc - everyone else follows along with other global markets but although there is always room for improvements and identifiable ‘wastes’…(there are a few European countries like maybe Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland where ‘quality of life’ may be registered as ‘better’ - but being a Swiss dual citizen, the Swiss are stressed too although not exactly about the same things we in the US are; I will hear more during my 4 weeks with relatives/friends in Switzerland this summer).
Switzerland has the second most expensive healthcare system in the world. …after us. 
I’m not sure what province that is happening in but it certainly isn’t happening in Ontario. In the past few days, the 2015 charges by doctors in the province came out and the top biller was an ophthalmologist who billed the provincial health insurance plan $6.6 million.
We have a friend whose brother is a surgeon, I believe near Toronto. He takes off the remainder of the year.
My understanding is it’s a bit more complicated than that. I think our issue is how far you go in caring for a person. Remember death panel? It will be interesting to see how much cost is involved in caring for everyone at all cost and if that’s what drives health cost in the US up.
Apparently we have Kotlikoff to blame for Congress closing the file and suspend loophole:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bestseller-helped-change-rules-retirement-120010225.html
Thanks, buddy. 
I’m glad the loophole was closed.
It sounded like kind of a scam, for those in the know.however, that doesn’t help those who were planning on it for retirement.
If Kotlikoff hadn’t written his book, the file-and-suspend strategy might not have been widely known. After learning of this strategy (maybe 2 years ago?) I was planning to use it, and I was a bit surprised and irritated that it was eliminated so quickly, but I can’t really argue for not closing that loophole.
Mike Piper wrote a similar book that prominently featured the same loophole (although I’d rather call it a strategy). I’m sure that the incorporation of the strategy into planning software also sped its demise, as it became available to those who read the books, the forii, or used the software. “It became so popular, nobody goes there anymore,” apologies to Yogi.
I don’t know if the backdoor Roth is a “loophole,” but I expect that to go away someday too.
I’ve known file and suspend for more a few years. I think we talked about it for years here. I can’t believe it just came out last year. All loopholes should be closed. They make people cynical and make law-abiding look dumb. “It’s a law” used to settle many arguments. We don’t hear that much these days. It’s more like it’s a law and there are loopholes. To go off the rail again, I wonder how much of this is the result of overproducing lawyers in our society. Just looking at law at its face doesn’t employ enough of them forcing them search loopholes to keep themselves employed?
I think backdoor should go away, too, or they should make it front door. It encourages people get clever not productive.
The world is a big place and there are countries that don’t expect their citizens to impoverish themselves if they become seriously ill. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Please keep us updated. Is there anyplace to do an actual comparison as to what is available and offered here vs. elsewhere. I was a hospital pharmacist and I know well the staggering costs of treating cancer. I wonder if these other countries even offer the latest and greatest i.e $60,000 a month treatment for “free”. Or do they stick to the older, less expensive treatments and stop at a certain price point.
24 hour in home care runs $350 to $670 a day around here. We could be talking $200,000 a year. (That is what my brother’s father in law pays… $200,000 a year).>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Is that in addition to the Medicare home health coverage?
that’s how we plan to spend our early retirement years (starting next year). We will be traveling to some of these places for a few months each summer to try them out. >>>>>>>>>>>
Interesting. Clearly you are very well off. Best wishes on finding what you need.
Well, I live in Toronto and have several friends and family members who are doctors. I’ve never heard of that, and as I said, an Ontario ophthalmologist billed OHIP (provincial health plan) $6.6 million dollars in 2015 so clearly what your friend is telling you is not factual.
I can’t speak for European countries but I do know that that does not happen in Canada. We had the unfortunate personal experience with one of our Ds years ago being diagnosed with cancer. We were living in NY on a short term basis at the time so were able to compare what was available. We returned to Canada early on in her treatment and had no issue with the obtaining the same treatment for her. And I might add, without the hassle of dealing with an insurance company.
If you need some specific medical treatments or physical/occupational therapy, Medicare may pay for you to receive that at home under certain circumstances. But they do not pay for long term maintenance care at home. If you need someone to be with you 24/7 you move to a nursing home (which Medicare will not pay for except for short term rehab stays) or you pay for care at home or you burden your kids.
One issue people will have is if they do live in another country, if they decide to give up US citizenship to stop paying US income taxes.
H (and cost of living) is holding me back from any plans to live in Switzerland after retirement (it would truly be ‘foreign country’ to him), plus our desire to stay closer to DDs who will be working in the US (although DDs are dual Swiss citizens and could live/work in Switzerland).
Every country has its benefits and drawbacks.
What happens in one area of Canada may be different than another - but just count how many CT scan machines, MRI machines etc they have available and how long you need to wait. Aggressive cancer, or monitoring cancer needs some things like CT scanning, tumor marking testing etc - I had aggressive cancer and didn’t have to wait for anything so I had a better chance of survival. CT scan was important for staging the cancer, and also treatment plan - for me and for others.
Cancer protocols get established (what works for various forms of cancer) and that info gets shared. My first line chemo combination is still used (friend’s relative on east coast 7 years later). My medical oncologist is in a large group, and I know he was going a bit further with me as how I was tolerating the chemo combination, and I had one more cycle (each cycle being four treatments) than he even initially thought. Who knows if a little less would have worked too, but I am glad I got everything thrown at it and am now cancer free.
United Healthcare just announced it is pulling out of Affordable Care Act enrollment options due to losing more than $1B last year.
The paradigm is shifting.
I do expect to see some changes with a bit more home health care - even with it out of pocket, because for people with some resources will want to remain in their home and will find it less costly than assisted living or other arrangements. How much family and community resources fill the gaps.
Many people are already use to seeing a Nurse Practitioner that works with a Family Practice group, and realize they can get good care for many routine things. If we have a NP visit, our FP checks in with us too, making sure all needs are met. FP has to adjust to Medicare reimbursements as their patient population ages.
The federal government has been enticing states to have more Medicaid available - feds paying for first few years, but then states picking up the costs. The problem is the federal gov’t doesn’t have to have a balanced budget but states do. So of course there is going to be variability state to state on resources, costs, etc.