USA -- low budget repatriation specific locations that aren't horrible

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, mogandave said:

Why politicize the thread? If your looking for a cheap place to live, it's likely you're going to qualify for Medicaid anyway.




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 I don't think you really understand the complexities of Medicaid.

Traditional Medicaid would mean basically almost no financial assets at all, and often single men aren't eligible at all regardless. 

Expanded Medicaid (started as part of the ACA law) is only in some states and it's only for people under the minimum ACA eligibility level based on income.

 

You're correct though, this is NOT a political debate thread.

Talking about the medical access options in a factual way is not that. 

I can't expect that you (or anyone) has read this entire thread. But, what I determined over some time was that IF I do repatriate before Medicare age, I would not even be eligible for expanded Medicaid, but would be eligible for the ACA exchanges. Meaning purchasing private insurance through an ACA exchange subsidized to some level. ACA does still exist but efforts from the R party to repeal it are not yet completely over. 

Edited August 26, 2017 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I'm not up for doing this at the moment (too depressing) but here are some cost estimate links to help figure projected medical costs AFTER retirement and AFTER starting Medicare.

 

http://www.aarp.org/retirement/the-aarp-healthcare-costs-calculator/

 

https://hvsweb1.hvsfinancial.com/hvadvisor/

[mduras01]

Isn't there some kind of roommates wanted classifieds for single folk 50+? Sharing living costs and some companionship.


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[Kim1950]

6 hours ago, mogandave said:

Why politicize the thread? If your looking for a cheap place to live, it's likely you're going to qualify for Medicaid anyway.
 

You can't get around politicizing whether and where to expatriate back to the US. Healthcare, housing, economic and social ecosystems are based on politics. I think, aside from you age, finances, and health, you need to do much self soul searching. There are people perfectly content, living alone or in a small community, reading, writing, gardening, whatever, and entertaining themselves on the cheap. And when their time comes, so it goes. For others, not so much. It's all in your head. Not where your head is located.

[AYJAYDEE]

Just now, Kim1950 said:

You can't get around politicizing whether and where to expatriate back to the US. Healthcare, housing, economic and social ecosystems are based on politics. I think, aside from you age, finances, and health, you need to do much self soul searching. There are people perfectly content, living alone or in a small community, reading, writing, gardening, whatever, and entertaining themselves on the cheap. And when their time comes, so it goes. For others, not so much. It's all in your head. Not where your head is located.

if you cant get health insurance i'd say "where" is very important

 

[Kim1950]

27 minutes ago, AYJAYDEE said:

if you cant get health insurance i'd say "where" is very important

 

In the US, the level of healthcare, especially for Medicare, is very dependant by state and where in the state. Less so, for Medicare, but still relevant. This is driven by politics. Not by location. Politics change, not the location. Medicare for me in an affluent exburb is very different than in South Side Chicago. This is politics, the exburbs have more 'weight' in the system. This is the argument where for healthcare it seems better to be impoverished in a economically better location than in a less economically location. This is changing, by politics, look at what's happening in LA, or if Trump has his way, at least for Medicaid. That's an easy target, more daunting for Medicare or VA Healthcare. No matter Medicaid will be reduced and more transitioned to the states where identity politics will be the more of the deciding criteria for coverage. So it goes.

[craigt3365]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I'm not up for doing this at the moment (too depressing) but here are some cost estimate links to help figure projected medical costs AFTER retirement and AFTER starting Medicare.

 

http://www.aarp.org/retirement/the-aarp-healthcare-costs-calculator/

 

https://hvsweb1.hvsfinancial.com/hvadvisor/

Very interesting. Seems my ability to move back, or at least visit for more than a month, will be after I turn 65!

[mogandave]

I got medical pretty easily. You tell the hospital you don't have any money and they get you signed up. You can own a home and a car. Better to not have significant liquid assets.

In any event, you can just give the emergency room a phony name and fugetaboutit


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[Kim1950]

8 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Very interesting. Seems my ability to move back, or at least visit for more than a month, will be after I turn 65!

I am on Medicare and VA Healthcare. My mother is on Medicare without any paid extra coverage. She's house bound, gets free meals delivered to her house, free weekly nurse visits, she can get free house cleaning, and she just got out from a 60 day in-patient recovery care at a retreat, not bad. Keep, in mind, extra costs above Medicare are dependent on income and assets. So, if you don't have much,  you can't pay much for what Medicare won't cover. 

 

Also, though not much, you must begin paying into Medicare at 65, if not, and you decide to opt in you will pay a penalty.

 

The politics of Medicare is something has got to give, it will be at the expense of Medicaid. That will be tagged with negative identity politics,

[craigt3365]

12 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I got medical pretty easily. You tell the hospital you don't have any money and they get you signed up. You can own a home and a car. Better to not have significant liquid assets.

In any event, you can just give the emergency room a phony name and fugetaboutit


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You're lucky. That's not been the experience of many of my friends back home. Quite the opposite.

 

Plus, if you need meds, you'll be unable to get them. Followups? Fugetaboutit.

 

Mentioning nothing about the morality of it.

[Kim1950]

12 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I got medical pretty easily. You tell the hospital you don't have any money and they get you signed up. You can own a home and a car. Better to not have significant liquid assets.

In any event, you can just give the emergency room a phony name and fugetaboutit


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Wrong guy, this might work once or twice and you don't get post ER care. They catch on and they get lawyers on commsion through the courts to hunt you down. If you ever get a job, they will attach your wages, ruin your credit, and if you don't pay you get a criminal record. So, you have stuck yourself in poverty. And, by the way, you won't be able to get a long stay visa for Thailand because they want a background check. I know, because a family member pulled this crap.

[meechai]

42 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I got medical pretty easily. You tell the hospital you don't have any money and they get you signed up. You can own a home and a car. Better to not have significant liquid assets.

In any event, you can just give the emergency room a phony name and fugetaboutit


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This ability to always get medical has all been mentioned before in this thread.

 

But many here are using this thread just as a side show to politically discredit/complain about a USA

they have not been to in decades.

 

But the truth is you stand a far greater chance of dying due to medical neglect or being not able to pay

in Thailand than as a US citizen in the USA where you will always be treated ability to pay or not

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by meechai

[mogandave]

Wrong guy, this might work once or twice and you don't get post ER care. They catch on and they get lawyers on commsion through the courts to hunt you down. If you ever get a job, they will attach your wages, ruin your credit, and if you don't pay you get a criminal record. So, you have stuck yourself in poverty. And, by the way, you won't be able to get a long stay visa for Thailand because they want a background check. I know, because a family member pulled this crap.

Well, it worked for 10 years until they signed me up for Medical.

It only works if you have no significant assets beyond your home. You can convert all your assets to cash and dump all but the Medical limit into a home and they can't touch it.

If the hospital can't collect from you they eventually write it off. Once they write it off you no longer owe the money.

I have medical insurance through my employer now, but it has really turned to sh*t over the last few years.

[mogandave]

This ability to always get medical has all been mentioned before in this thread.
 
But many here are using this thread just as a side show to politically discredit/complain about a USA
they have not been to in decades.
 
But the truth is you stand a far greater chance of dying due to medical neglect or being not able to pay
in Thailand than as a US citizen in the USA where you will always be treated ability to pay or not
 

Well the US will have socialized medicine inside of ten years so it won't matter.

With or without insurance, I would much rather have a heart attack in the US than here.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

 

Well, it worked for 10 years until they signed me up for Medical.

It only works if you have no significant assets beyond your home. You can convert all your assets to cash and dump all but the Medical limit into a home and they can't touch it.

If the hospital can't collect from you they eventually write it off. Once they write it off you no longer owe the money.

I have medical insurance through my employer now, but it has really turned to sh*t over the last few years.
 

If you have income, they can go after it. My friend had hus wages garnished for years paying off his hospital bill.

 

I think it's best we leave this alone because it's probably illegal.

[mogandave]

If you have income, they can go after it. My friend had hus wages garnished for years paying off his hospital bill.
 
I think it's best we leave this alone because it's probably illegal.

I thought we were talking about people not working. In the US, people that are working, generally get medical insurance through their employer.

If you get on Medical, you do not owe any money, so there is nothing to be collected.

If you do not have Medical and give a phony name, they have no way to bill you.

As I said previously, I assume one that is looking for a cheap place to live, can likely qualify for Medical. Nothing illegal about getting on Medical.

[ChouDoufu]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

 ... would be eligible for the ACA exchanges. Meaning purchasing private insurance through an ACA exchange subsidized to some level. ACA does still exist but efforts from the R party to repeal it are not yet completely over. 

it's not that you would be eligible.....buying government approved healthcare

with all the "benefits" you don't want or need is mandatory, or you pay an

additional tax/fine at tax time.  current administration apparently is not

enforcing the no-coverage tax....for now.

 

the offered minimum insurance is often prohibitively expensive, so many

are opting to pay the fine.  then you have so many carriers dropping counties

or entire states, so there may be only one (or none) choice, since coverage

cannot be purchased across state lines.

 

it's not likely ACA will go away. once an entitlement is entrenched, it's

impossible to cut.

[Jingthing]

it's not that you would be eligible.....buying government approved healthcare

with all the "benefits" you don't want or need is mandatory, or you pay an

additional tax/fine at tax time.  current administration apparently is not

enforcing the no-coverage tax....for now.

 

the offered minimum insurance is often prohibitively expensive, so many

are opting to pay the fine.  then you have so many carriers dropping counties

or entire states, so there may be only one (or none) choice, since coverage

cannot be purchased across state lines.

 

it's not likely ACA will go away. once an entitlement is entrenched, it's

impossible to cut.

No. You don't understand. For low income people under the minimum income level to be eligible to buy in the ACA exchange system that has subsidies there are only a few other options - -

 

Pay full retail for insurance which is of course unaffordable

 

Be eligible for traditional Medicaid. Very strict eligibility rules on assets, etc.

 

Be eligible for expanded Medicaid but that is not available in many states

 

Be uninsured

 

This is a separate issue from mandates and penalties. A low income uninsured person under the minimum eligibility for ACA will not be liable for a penalty.

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

So we've had a lengthy detour back to health care issues. That's fine as many aspects of health care access, costs, and quality are relevant for choosing destinations to live in.

However this thread is at risk again of becoming all about health care. That's not good. Because the bigger purpose of the topic is to talk about the U.S destinations more generally.

So back more to that - - the talk about destinations - - please.

[mogandave]

San Diego


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[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, mogandave said:

San Diego


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Hardly low budget!  5555 But a beautiful place. Lived there for many years.

[GinBoy2]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Hardly low budget!  5555 But a beautiful place. Lived there for many years.

I too lived in San Diego many years, youngest daughter still lives there.

 

If I had to choose a location which is close to perfection it would be San Diego, but.....

 

Hardly cheap to live there. Even moving inland towards Julian, still pricey, and there transport becomes harder.

 

So I dream that one day I win the lottery, or one of my daughters marry extremely well and can take care of their aging Fathers needs!

[Jingthing]

San Diego is expensive but there are other border areas that aren't. There are definitely some pros and cons to living near the Mexican border. For example, going there for more affordable dentistry. 

[amvet]

23 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

haven't read thru all 74 pages of course....but have

you considered smaller towns in southwest texas?

 

plenty of small towns within easy drive of the cities

with malls and v.a. hospitals.  generally low crime

rates.  clean air, warm weather, no traffic.

 

housing is super affordable.....can still find nice

smaller houses (800-1200 sqf.) under $25K.

no state income tax, "homestead" deductions

on real estate means $100 or so annual

property tax.

I imagine there are some good deals right now especially if you like fixeruppers.

[amvet]

47 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

San Diego is expensive but there are other border areas that aren't. There are definitely some pros and cons to living near the Mexican border. For example, going there for more affordable dentistry. 

Is that a pro or con?  "Eh Poncho give the gringo a little more nitrous then get his wallet."  Or am I watching Desperado re runs too many times?

 

 

[Jingthing]

It's a pro but you need to do research to find good providers.

[Jingthing]

23 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

haven't read thru all 74 pages of course....but have

you considered smaller towns in southwest texas?

 

plenty of small towns within easy drive of the cities

with malls and v.a. hospitals.  generally low crime

rates.  clean air, warm weather, no traffic.

 

housing is super affordable.....can still find nice

smaller houses (800-1200 sqf.) under $25K.

no state income tax, "homestead" deductions

on real estate means $100 or so annual

property tax.

 

 

Now I'm confused. You refer to "cities" in this region. What are the names of these cities? Towns of 1,000 or 10,000 are NOT cities!

[Jingthing]

Now for something different. For the more literary minded, here's an interesting list of books linked to all the 50 states:

 

http://lithub.com/100-books-across-america-fiction-and-nonfiction-for-every-state-in-the-union/

[ChouDoufu]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Now I'm confused. You refer to "cities" in this region. What are the names of these cities? Towns of 1,000 or 10,000 are NOT cities!

i mean you would live in a town within driving

distance of a smaller city.....the town having the

safe, affordable housing, the small city having

malls and hospitals and walmart.   by cities, i don't

mean megalopolises like houston.  for livable,

take midland or odessa, each just over 100K, and

then look at the towns in the surrounding area.

 

surrounding could be within 150 miles.  depends on

how often you want to hit the big city.....little to

no traffic and higher speed limits on the interstates

and the highways.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

i mean you would live in a town within driving

distance of a smaller city.....the town having the

safe, affordable housing, the small city having

malls and hospitals and walmart.   by cities, i don't

mean megalopolises like houston.  for livable,

take midland or odessa, each just over 100K, and

then look at the towns in the surrounding area.

 

surrounding could be within 150 miles.  depends on

how often you want to hit the big city.....little to

no traffic and higher speed limits on the interstates

and the highways.

So Midland and Odessa are not really in that region then and there really aren't ANY cities in that specific region, right? 

You sound like a real westerner thinking 150 miles is within normal range. 

Interesting to see that difference in perspective. 

I really can't relate to that at all!

For me, within reasonable range is 15 miles max!

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by Jingthing