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In my case hindsight is 20/20. If you don't mind me asking what country did you expatriate to? I've found that several countries I would want to relocate to do

In my case hindsight is 20/20. If you don't mind me asking what country did you expatriate to? I've found that several countries I would want to relocate to do not allow permanent residency for people with existing medical conditions in order to avoid undue strain on their subsidized medical systems.

technics256 9y ago
At least in Europe, I have never seen anyone ask for pre existing medical conditions unless getting specialized private insurance. I have never heard of any residency permit being based on medical history in Europe. I would imagine it to be illegal? I'm currently in Italy myself, and my father was visiting me and got a nasty case of pneumonia on the way over. Here in italy care is (mostly) free,as is his hospital stay here in genova. While it may be not to the full American standard, his care has been great, and the staff wonderful. I'm glad to be in a system here where Healthcare is good, and affordable, and that with this episode my father is not bankrupted or in considerable debt because of it, especially as an elderly patient. La dolce vita.
- patryn20 9y ago
  British commonwealth countries seem to have health assessment/medical history checks. Germany requires immigrants to have private health insurance until they are granted permanent residence/citizenship. That insurance can have restrictions on pre-existing conditions and/or be prohibitively expensive. If you are already an EU citizen the rules can often be quite different than as a US passport holder. I am not a global expert in immigration law though and I'm now going to research Italy. ;-) Thank you!
  - insulanian 9y ago
    > Germany requires immigrants to have private health insurance until they are granted permanent residence/citizenship. This is not true! I'm in Germany since 2012 and still don't have permanent residence permit, but have public health insurance from day one.
    - patryn20 9y ago
      Well that is interesting. What is your original country of origin?
      - mrunkel 9y ago
        Not the person you are responding to, but my wife is an American living in Germany and we have public insurance. I think you're conflating a few different terms and perhaps not fully understanding what is meant by public and private insurance in Germany?
  - germanier 9y ago
    Basically there are three classes of people: Those who need public insurance, those that need private insurance, and those that can choose between them. Who is in which class depends on many factors such as your type of work, income, and insurance history both in Germany and abroad. It does however not dependent on your citizenship or immigration status.
geomark 9y ago
Thailand. They don't give permanent residency here anyway. The laws on the books make it sound as if they do but in reality they don't. So you have to find another way to stay long term. For young people they make it difficult unless you can land a job (few jobs for foreigners here) or start a business (expensive and designed to fleece foreigners, beware). Other ways are retirement visa, spouse support visa, education visa, long stay medical care visa. Staying long term on a tourist visa and doing visa runs every month is dumb and doesn't work anymore anyway since they cracked down on it. If you can manage the visa issue then you can get excellent care at a tiny fraction of what you pay in the US. Over the years I have had surgery, been hospitalized for an illness, had a fair amount of dental work, and had thorough medical exams annually. It's not just the low cost. The service and hospitality is unlike what I ever experienced in the US.
- patryn20 9y ago
  Thank you for the insight. I hadn't honestly considered Asian countries; which is silly since I have friends living in several.
  - geomark 9y ago
    Asia is a big place and I don't know much about other Asian countries. But Thailand works very well for me. It's not for everyone, for sure.
    - Radim 9y ago
      We've lived in Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea, and medical care has been fairly atrocious in each one. This was the most pronounced in South Korea, because it is so advanced technologically but somehow still has that SEA feel of wanton medical incompetence. It catches you by surprise more. Massive doses of antibiotics no matter what, IVs for no good reason, X-ray to check for head lice (!!)... fun stuff. I heard medical care in Singapore and HK can be excellent though. Interesting to hear you've had such a good experience in Thailand, it was the opposite for us (GP, dental, surgical -- you name it, it sucked, even in ?top? places like the Bangkok Hospital). Where did you go?
Jhsto 9y ago
Have you looked at Nordic countries? At least Finland's state welfare system says that if you already live in EU country, you can apply to get treated in here for the same price as what we (Finns) pay. You can still do walk-ins without an application, but you might be billed "the true cost" of treatments, which for an x-ray (which you mentioned down below) seems to be around 200 euros. Although, if you already know you need one, then you can just use private sector which bills you around 75 euros for one (x-ray). The legislation clearly states that you as a patient would be handled equally. The public sector can't either turn you away in any situation if they already provide the needed care. The system here is a safe haven in other means as well. As a citizen, you are qualified for equal treatment and costs to those in your hometown in other EU countries as well. You can be abroad for up to a year and any medical emergency within the EU would be covered by the state. It's almost backward but I feel like my peers don't want to travel as much when they are young, partly because they know the medical systems in other parts of the world can screw them up.
GFischer 9y ago
Uruguay here in South America has free healthcare and a fairly generous immigration policy - probably among the most generous in the world, ridiculously easy compared to any first world country, and no background health checks that I know of. Cost of living is VERY HIGH though compared to income and even in absolute terms (about the only cheap thing is healthcare :) though if you earn 70k / year you're set unless you want to live in an U.S.-sized house and drive an U.S. sized car) and bureaucracy is very bad. Immigration systems are currently collapsed because of the flood of Venezuelan refugees, and thousands of Cubans and Dominicans are coming too, so you might have to wait 18 months for the government ID that gives you access to healthcare.
jakub_g 9y ago
FR, DE, CH, NL, ES have very good health systems. Google "Euro Health Consumer Index" for more info. In general in Europe you can't be denied health coverage due to preexisting condition, at least if you're EU citizen.

technics256 9y ago

At least in Europe, I have never seen anyone ask for pre existing medical conditions unless getting specialized private insurance. I have never heard of any residency permit being based on medical history in Europe. I would imagine it to be illegal? I'm currently in Italy myself, and my father was visiting me and got a nasty case of pneumonia on the way over. Here in italy care is (mostly) free,as is his hospital stay here in genova. While it may be not to the full American standard, his care has been great, and the staff wonderful. I'm glad to be in a system here where Healthcare is good, and affordable, and that with this episode my father is not bankrupted or in considerable debt because of it, especially as an elderly patient. La dolce vita.

patryn20 9y ago
British commonwealth countries seem to have health assessment/medical history checks. Germany requires immigrants to have private health insurance until they are granted permanent residence/citizenship. That insurance can have restrictions on pre-existing conditions and/or be prohibitively expensive. If you are already an EU citizen the rules can often be quite different than as a US passport holder. I am not a global expert in immigration law though and I'm now going to research Italy. ;-) Thank you!
- insulanian 9y ago
  > Germany requires immigrants to have private health insurance until they are granted permanent residence/citizenship. This is not true! I'm in Germany since 2012 and still don't have permanent residence permit, but have public health insurance from day one.
  - patryn20 9y ago
    Well that is interesting. What is your original country of origin?
    - mrunkel 9y ago
      Not the person you are responding to, but my wife is an American living in Germany and we have public insurance. I think you're conflating a few different terms and perhaps not fully understanding what is meant by public and private insurance in Germany?
- germanier 9y ago
  Basically there are three classes of people: Those who need public insurance, those that need private insurance, and those that can choose between them. Who is in which class depends on many factors such as your type of work, income, and insurance history both in Germany and abroad. It does however not dependent on your citizenship or immigration status.

geomark 9y ago

Thailand. They don't give permanent residency here anyway. The laws on the books make it sound as if they do but in reality they don't. So you have to find another way to stay long term. For young people they make it difficult unless you can land a job (few jobs for foreigners here) or start a business (expensive and designed to fleece foreigners, beware). Other ways are retirement visa, spouse support visa, education visa, long stay medical care visa. Staying long term on a tourist visa and doing visa runs every month is dumb and doesn't work anymore anyway since they cracked down on it. If you can manage the visa issue then you can get excellent care at a tiny fraction of what you pay in the US. Over the years I have had surgery, been hospitalized for an illness, had a fair amount of dental work, and had thorough medical exams annually. It's not just the low cost. The service and hospitality is unlike what I ever experienced in the US.

patryn20 9y ago
Thank you for the insight. I hadn't honestly considered Asian countries; which is silly since I have friends living in several.
- geomark 9y ago
  Asia is a big place and I don't know much about other Asian countries. But Thailand works very well for me. It's not for everyone, for sure.
  - Radim 9y ago
    We've lived in Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea, and medical care has been fairly atrocious in each one. This was the most pronounced in South Korea, because it is so advanced technologically but somehow still has that SEA feel of wanton medical incompetence. It catches you by surprise more. Massive doses of antibiotics no matter what, IVs for no good reason, X-ray to check for head lice (!!)... fun stuff. I heard medical care in Singapore and HK can be excellent though. Interesting to hear you've had such a good experience in Thailand, it was the opposite for us (GP, dental, surgical -- you name it, it sucked, even in ?top? places like the Bangkok Hospital). Where did you go?

Jhsto 9y ago

Have you looked at Nordic countries? At least Finland's state welfare system says that if you already live in EU country, you can apply to get treated in here for the same price as what we (Finns) pay. You can still do walk-ins without an application, but you might be billed "the true cost" of treatments, which for an x-ray (which you mentioned down below) seems to be around 200 euros. Although, if you already know you need one, then you can just use private sector which bills you around 75 euros for one (x-ray). The legislation clearly states that you as a patient would be handled equally. The public sector can't either turn you away in any situation if they already provide the needed care. The system here is a safe haven in other means as well. As a citizen, you are qualified for equal treatment and costs to those in your hometown in other EU countries as well. You can be abroad for up to a year and any medical emergency within the EU would be covered by the state. It's almost backward but I feel like my peers don't want to travel as much when they are young, partly because they know the medical systems in other parts of the world can screw them up.

GFischer 9y ago

Uruguay here in South America has free healthcare and a fairly generous immigration policy - probably among the most generous in the world, ridiculously easy compared to any first world country, and no background health checks that I know of. Cost of living is VERY HIGH though compared to income and even in absolute terms (about the only cheap thing is healthcare :) though if you earn 70k / year you're set unless you want to live in an U.S.-sized house and drive an U.S. sized car) and bureaucracy is very bad. Immigration systems are currently collapsed because of the flood of Venezuelan refugees, and thousands of Cubans and Dominicans are coming too, so you might have to wait 18 months for the government ID that gives you access to healthcare.

jakub_g 9y ago

FR, DE, CH, NL, ES have very good health systems. Google "Euro Health Consumer Index" for more info. In general in Europe you can't be denied health coverage due to preexisting condition, at least if you're EU citizen.