By Arthur Lipper
Contributor
Most of the 193 people at the Institute of Americas April 21 conference on "the Future of Health Care in Mexico for Americans" were fluent in both Spanish and English. The conference was conducted in English and the speakers were united in their view that Mexico will become an ever increasing source of health care for Americans -± all as a result of the comparative cost of service.
Jim Arriola, CEO of Sekure Healthcare, talked about those comparisons, citing such examples as the cost of a non-invasive coronary angioplasty in San Diego which ranges from $43,604 to $80,960 versus a Baja California hospital's total fees of $6,500 to $9,000.
As an example of cost differential, Jim Arriola indicated that registered nurses in California are paid annually in the area of $75,000 where as in Mexico the annual wage is closer to $12,000. He also states the cost of liability insurance for a cardiac surgeon in the U.S. runs As much as $80,000 versus $5,000 in Mexico. The cost of a visit to a Mexican primary care physician is about $30 whereas in the U.S. it will run $125 or more. American hospitals receive from HMOs $6,638 per bed-day while Mexican hospitals are only paid $1,117.
One of the reasons for the surgeon's dramatically lower liability insurance premium is the fact that in Mexico there is not a legal recognition of punitive damage.
It was stated by the several of the conference speaker that due to training and technology the quality of health care in most Mexican hospitals is equivalent to that found in American hospitals.
Of course, those comfortable in Spanish will be more likely to be attracted to Mexican health care providers. Hispanics currently comprise 15 percent of the California population and are the fastest growing minority group in America.
Ambassador Jeffry Davidow, the president of the Institute of the Americas and former ambassador to Mexico, was generally supportive of the predictions made by speakers regarding the growth of demand by U.S. residents for health care services in Mexico.
One of the speakers predicted that Hispanics would be 50 percent of the American population by 2050. This is another reason why Mexico becoming an important health care provider seems inevitable.
Medicare and Medicade are presently 48 percent of all health care expenditures in the U.S. and are predicted to grow to 52 percent.
In 2017, there will be a shortage in the U.S. of 40,000 physicians and in 2030; the shortage number of physicians is estimated to grow to 158,000. Being increasingly accepting of transnational medical service is a possible solution. Already there is a telemedicine program being developed in Mexico to serve Mexicans living in the U.S.
Although speakers said the quality of healthcare in Mexico is excellent, it was noted that there is a need for a more defined malpractice review process.
There are going to be numerous business opportunities created by the increasing numbers of people travelling to Tijuana and other cities for medical care. Providing transportation is an obvious need. Also, there will have to be a readily available and trusted rating system which surveys Mexican health care facilities and practitioners. There will have to be American sold insurance covering Mexican provided health care.
The growth and aging of the baby boomer generation and rapid growth of Hispanics in the U.S. will naturally create a growing market for Mexican health care providers or all kinds.
The quality of medicine is better today because of technology and training of practitioners. A major hospital in Monterrey is already actively marketing its services internationally. U.S. insurance companies are primary beneficiaries of the lower cost of Mexican health care.
Medical tourism is on the rise internationally. It is estimated that by 2012, $100 billion will be spent by those receiving health care in countries of other than their own. There are also almost 1 million American retirees living in Mexico, most who use and are happy with Mexican health care. In 2009, 952,000 U.S. residents traveled to Mexico for health care; 488,000 of these were Mexican immigrants.
Mexico will be competing with both Asia and other locations in Central and South America for the provision of service, but has the advantage of proximity to market. Early-stage focus will be on dentistry and cosmetic surgery.
It is clear that relationships will develop between U.S.-licensed physicians and Mexican physicians who will then ease problems of patients transporting prescribed medications across the border.
The conference was interesting and the speakers made a convincing case that Mexican-provided health care is going to become a big business, positively impacting a large number of San Diego residents.
Showing posts with label AMAR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMAR. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Mexico's big hope: get 5 million U.S. retirees
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is silently working on proposals aimed at drawing millions of U.S. retirees to this country, which could eventually lead to the most ambitious U.S.-Mexican project since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
President Felipe Calderón is likely to propose the first steps toward expanding U.S. retirement benefits and medical tourism to Mexico when he goes to Washington on an official visit May 19, according to well-placed officials here. If not then, he will raise the issue later this year, they say.
``It's one of the pillars of our plans to trigger economic and social well-being in both countries,'' Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told me. ``We will be seeking to increasingly discuss this issue in coming months and years.''
Calderón brought it up during a U.S.-Canada-Mexico summit in Guadalajara in August last year, but President Barack Obama asked him to shelve the idea until he was able to pass healthcare reform, another official told me.
Now that Congress has passed healthcare reform, Calderón is preparing to charge ahead.
A GROWING MARKET
There are already an estimated 1 million Americans living in Mexico. And according to Mexican government estimates based on U.S. Census figures, that number is likely to soar to 5 million by 2025 as the U.S. population grows older and more Americans look for sunny, cheaper places to retire.
The U.S. Census projects that the number of U.S. retirees will soar from 40 million now to nearly 90 million by 2050. Already, 5 million American retirees live abroad, of whom 2.2 million are in the Western Hemisphere -- mostly in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Another 1.5 million live in Europe and 850,000 in Asia.
The key to luring more U.S. medical tourists and retirees to Mexico and other Latin American countries will be getting hospitals in the region to be certified by the U.S. Joint International Commission, which establishes that they meet U.S. hospitals' standards. There are already eight Mexican hospitals certified by the JIC and several others awaiting certification.
According to Mexican government estimates, healthcare costs in Mexico are about 70 percent lower than in the United States. And from my own experience, those estimates are right: As I reported at the time, when I was hospitalized in Mexico two years ago for an emergency operation, my hospital bill was indeed about 70 percent lower than what it would have been in Miami.
So what will Calderón specifically propose to Obama? Most likely, the Mexican president will suggest starting with a low-profile agreement that would allow the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration to pay for Medicare benefits to U.S. retirees in Mexico. Under current rules, Medicare only covers healthcare services in the United States.
IT JUST MAKES SENSE
My opinion: Mexico and much of Latin America are bound to become growing U.S. retirement and medical tourism destinations, much like Spain has become a permanent living place for Germans, Britons and Northern Europeans.
You won't read much about it now because neither Calderón nor Obama will emphasize it publicly while the drug-related violence in northern Mexico is making big headlines, and while the political wounds from the recent U.S. healthcare debate are still open in Washington, D.C.
But I'm increasingly convinced that, as the violence in Mexico subsides and the healthcare debate becomes a distant memory in Washington, medical benefits' deals will become a top U.S.-Latin American priority. Just as free-trade agreements were the big thing of the 1990s, healthcare agreements will be the big deal of the coming decade.
I wouldn't be surprised if Calderón and Obama take the first baby steps toward a U.S.-Mexico healthcare agreement by finding a way to pay for Medicare benefits for U.S. expatriates in Mexico, or getting U.S. states to allow similar payments. Then, most likely after the 2012 presidential election in both countries, the two would start negotiating a more ambitious deal.
Demography, geography and economics are pointing in that direction. With the U.S. population getting older, a record U.S. budget deficit, rising U.S. healthcare costs, and Mexico and other Latin American countries badly needing more tourism and investments, this should be a win-win for everybody.
aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is silently working on proposals aimed at drawing millions of U.S. retirees to this country, which could eventually lead to the most ambitious U.S.-Mexican project since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
President Felipe Calderón is likely to propose the first steps toward expanding U.S. retirement benefits and medical tourism to Mexico when he goes to Washington on an official visit May 19, according to well-placed officials here. If not then, he will raise the issue later this year, they say.
``It's one of the pillars of our plans to trigger economic and social well-being in both countries,'' Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told me. ``We will be seeking to increasingly discuss this issue in coming months and years.''
Calderón brought it up during a U.S.-Canada-Mexico summit in Guadalajara in August last year, but President Barack Obama asked him to shelve the idea until he was able to pass healthcare reform, another official told me.
Now that Congress has passed healthcare reform, Calderón is preparing to charge ahead.
A GROWING MARKET
There are already an estimated 1 million Americans living in Mexico. And according to Mexican government estimates based on U.S. Census figures, that number is likely to soar to 5 million by 2025 as the U.S. population grows older and more Americans look for sunny, cheaper places to retire.
The U.S. Census projects that the number of U.S. retirees will soar from 40 million now to nearly 90 million by 2050. Already, 5 million American retirees live abroad, of whom 2.2 million are in the Western Hemisphere -- mostly in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Another 1.5 million live in Europe and 850,000 in Asia.
The key to luring more U.S. medical tourists and retirees to Mexico and other Latin American countries will be getting hospitals in the region to be certified by the U.S. Joint International Commission, which establishes that they meet U.S. hospitals' standards. There are already eight Mexican hospitals certified by the JIC and several others awaiting certification.
According to Mexican government estimates, healthcare costs in Mexico are about 70 percent lower than in the United States. And from my own experience, those estimates are right: As I reported at the time, when I was hospitalized in Mexico two years ago for an emergency operation, my hospital bill was indeed about 70 percent lower than what it would have been in Miami.
So what will Calderón specifically propose to Obama? Most likely, the Mexican president will suggest starting with a low-profile agreement that would allow the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration to pay for Medicare benefits to U.S. retirees in Mexico. Under current rules, Medicare only covers healthcare services in the United States.
IT JUST MAKES SENSE
My opinion: Mexico and much of Latin America are bound to become growing U.S. retirement and medical tourism destinations, much like Spain has become a permanent living place for Germans, Britons and Northern Europeans.
You won't read much about it now because neither Calderón nor Obama will emphasize it publicly while the drug-related violence in northern Mexico is making big headlines, and while the political wounds from the recent U.S. healthcare debate are still open in Washington, D.C.
But I'm increasingly convinced that, as the violence in Mexico subsides and the healthcare debate becomes a distant memory in Washington, medical benefits' deals will become a top U.S.-Latin American priority. Just as free-trade agreements were the big thing of the 1990s, healthcare agreements will be the big deal of the coming decade.
I wouldn't be surprised if Calderón and Obama take the first baby steps toward a U.S.-Mexico healthcare agreement by finding a way to pay for Medicare benefits for U.S. expatriates in Mexico, or getting U.S. states to allow similar payments. Then, most likely after the 2012 presidential election in both countries, the two would start negotiating a more ambitious deal.
Demography, geography and economics are pointing in that direction. With the U.S. population getting older, a record U.S. budget deficit, rising U.S. healthcare costs, and Mexico and other Latin American countries badly needing more tourism and investments, this should be a win-win for everybody.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Canadians Positioned to be a Profitable Market for Mexican Real Estate: Upcoming San Antonio Texas Conference Shares Insight and Advice for Developers
Hosted by AMAR (The Mexican Association of Retirement Communities), the goal of this session will be to offer successful strategies on how to effectively sell Mexican real estate to Canadian retirees, without running huge costs in promotional expenses. With an income of about $13 billion a year from tourism, Seminar presenter Lorin Yakiwchuk has had over 25 years in business, with entrepreneurial skills acquired through managerial positions in sales and marketing for a variety of industries. He has since established a holding company with interests in private building and construction, national real estate brokerage, marketing and hospitality. Mr. Yakiwchuk presently holds executive positions in five Canadian registered companies, is a life member of the Vancouver Terminal City Club and past chairman of the joint execute council of the Terminal City Club Strata. Seminar host AMAR (The Mexican Association of Retirement Communities) is the first national, nonprofit organization exclusively catered towards creating and serving Active Adult & Retirement Communities, and Senior Housing & Care Industries in Contact Lorin Yakiwchuk for more information: mailto:lorinwy@shaw.ca%20 |
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Colima “10” la región perfecta para las comunidades de retiro
"10" el lugar perfecto para el desarrollo de Comunidades de Retiro.
El 20 de Marzo en el Periódico Oficial del Gobierno Constitucional del Estado de Colima, en el articulo 53 Bis por primera ocasión en la Republica Mexicana se lee: Se consideran "zonas habitacionales plurifamiliar horizontal campestre comunitario" las que, pudiendo estar dentro o fuera de los limites de los centros de población, albergan comunidades de personas jubiladas y/o retiradas de las actividades laborales, por lo que su residencia puede ser fija, temporal o compartida.
Es por ello, que por este medio AMAR - Asociación Mexicana de Asistencia en el Retiro, felicita al C. Gobernador del Estado de Colima, Lic. Mario Anguiano Moreno, por su gran visión y compromiso en legislar sobre el uso de suelo que permita atraer inversión a su estado en la industria del retiro misma, que atraerá bienestar social a la comunidad colimense.
Es importante recalcar, que esta clasificación se da por primera ves en toda la Republica Mexicana y con ello se exponencia las facilidades para inversionistas y desarrolladores que inviertan en la construcción de complejos inmobiliarios residenciales con servicios asistenciales y de salud enfocados al adulto mayor de 50 años, que deseen disfrutar su etapa de retiro en lugares paradisíacos y tranquilos con un ofrecimiento amplio de cultura, tradición y esparcimiento.
En AMAR reconocemos este gran paso que hace historia en México y estamos seguros que Colima se posicionara como "10" el Lugar Perfecto, que en los años 70's Bo Derek hiciera famosas las playas de Manzanillo.
Atentamente
Mesa Directiva AMAR
El 20 de Marzo en el Periódico Oficial del Gobierno Constitucional del Estado de Colima, en el articulo 53 Bis por primera ocasión en la Republica Mexicana se lee: Se consideran "zonas habitacionales plurifamiliar horizontal campestre comunitario" las que, pudiendo estar dentro o fuera de los limites de los centros de población, albergan comunidades de personas jubiladas y/o retiradas de las actividades laborales, por lo que su residencia puede ser fija, temporal o compartida.
Es por ello, que por este medio AMAR - Asociación Mexicana de Asistencia en el Retiro, felicita al C. Gobernador del Estado de Colima, Lic. Mario Anguiano Moreno, por su gran visión y compromiso en legislar sobre el uso de suelo que permita atraer inversión a su estado en la industria del retiro misma, que atraerá bienestar social a la comunidad colimense.
Es importante recalcar, que esta clasificación se da por primera ves en toda la Republica Mexicana y con ello se exponencia las facilidades para inversionistas y desarrolladores que inviertan en la construcción de complejos inmobiliarios residenciales con servicios asistenciales y de salud enfocados al adulto mayor de 50 años, que deseen disfrutar su etapa de retiro en lugares paradisíacos y tranquilos con un ofrecimiento amplio de cultura, tradición y esparcimiento.
En AMAR reconocemos este gran paso que hace historia en México y estamos seguros que Colima se posicionara como "10" el Lugar Perfecto, que en los años 70's Bo Derek hiciera famosas las playas de Manzanillo.
Atentamente
Mesa Directiva AMAR
Thursday, March 11, 2010
FYI - Medicare Facts and Figures - Medicare in Mexico Possibilities
Dear Friends,
Just as an FYI - The topic of Medicare in Mexico is still around. After the stakeholders’ meeting in Mexico City last July, there was an interesting segment on PBS last Nov that featured Paul Crist and folks from Puerto Vallarta interested in the topic http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec09/mexico_12-28.html David Warner, PhD and Paul Crist will discuss the topic in Puerto Vallarta at a medical tourism expo in August http://www.vallartamedicaldestination.com/portal/
I came across some stats I thought were interesting and wanted to share http://www.chcf.org/topics/download.cfm?pg=insurance&fn=MedicareFactsFigures2010%2Epdf&pid=513295&itemid=118742
See page 14 of report - I thought it was interesting to see the percent of 65+ yr olds of Latinos in CA projected to increase so much. I think there will be growing interest from insurers looking to capitalize on these dynamics. I know that in my discussions with some labor unions in CA, there is great interest from these unions in having this benefit available for their Latino workers who retire in Mexico. Regards, Jim
Sincerely,
Jim Arriola
CEO
Sekure Healthcare
Tel 619.210.4836
www.MySekure.com
Just as an FYI - The topic of Medicare in Mexico is still around. After the stakeholders’ meeting in Mexico City last July, there was an interesting segment on PBS last Nov that featured Paul Crist and folks from Puerto Vallarta interested in the topic http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec09/mexico_12-28.html David Warner, PhD and Paul Crist will discuss the topic in Puerto Vallarta at a medical tourism expo in August http://www.vallartamedicaldestination.com/portal/
I came across some stats I thought were interesting and wanted to share http://www.chcf.org/topics/download.cfm?pg=insurance&fn=MedicareFactsFigures2010%2Epdf&pid=513295&itemid=118742
See page 14 of report - I thought it was interesting to see the percent of 65+ yr olds of Latinos in CA projected to increase so much. I think there will be growing interest from insurers looking to capitalize on these dynamics. I know that in my discussions with some labor unions in CA, there is great interest from these unions in having this benefit available for their Latino workers who retire in Mexico. Regards, Jim
Sincerely,
Jim Arriola
CEO
Sekure Healthcare
Tel 619.210.4836
www.MySekure.com
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