Protecting Your Family Abroad
Apr 23rd
Author: Rhiannon Williamson
If you have a spouse, dependents, children or anyone in your life about whom you care deeply it adds so much purpose to your life - no longer are the hours spent at your desk or slaving over housework without meaning, in fact no longer are any of the tasks you undertake for no purpose.
If you have someone who relies on you, needs you and loves you right back then their welfare and overall care is of paramount importance to you on all levels; and if you decide to up sticks and relocate overseas to enjoy a better quality of life as an increasing number of families are doing, the holistic approach to the care of your family will be your number one priority.
Moving is one of the most stressful events in anyone's life, moving abroad doubly so - and if you factor in moving overseas with children, having to find accommodation, employment, educational establishments and new friends for the whole family then the entire project becomes incredibly daunting at first glance...
However, as with any large task the best way to tackle it is to break it down into small pieces and manage each step at a time...
Many people are choosing to move overseas with their family to give them a better start in life, a better quality of life and a safer, more fun introduction to life - sunny overseas destinations are often favoured because the amount of time the family can spend together outdoors swimming, walking, playing and exploring is far greater than in many parts of Northern Europe and America for example meaning that the whole family will benefit from better health, greater levels of fitness and fresher air.
Sunnier countries often have far better and healthier fresh produce for sale, another tick in the box for moving abroad. Often the pace of life overseas is slower, stress is an alien concept, money is a tool rather than a goal and so one's approach to life can become far healthier and better balanced. All of these factors add up in favour of starting a new life abroad for many families.
However, when one moves from a country like America, Canada, Germany or the UK where health care services are exceptional, the level of assistance afforded every citizen is fantastic and the right to decent medical and dental services is guaranteed, it can be a shock to move abroad and learn that health care services differ greatly, as does the cost of care, on a country by country basis.
Generally speaking it is usually possible to get a decent level of medical care in any major destination in the world - however, affording the care and actually having the right to see a specific doctor can be restrictive and restricted....which is why those moving abroad with their spouse, children or significant others in tow must consider getting international health insurance from the get-go. While insurance is far from an enthralling subject, it is an essential element in the protection of family members when moving to live abroad. The head of the family must ensure that every family member has at least the basic level of cover that will enable them to have emergency treatment and care should they need it, and this will give everyone the peace of mind they need and the protection they deserve.
The good news is that international health insurance packages for the whole family are affordable as more insurance providers battle over customers! It is well worth shopping around for the best quotations before committing to any one provider, furthermore it can also be cheaper to get health insurance from specialist expatriate providers or to find a company local to the destination in which you will be living.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/protecting-your-family-abroad-45172.html
About the Author
Rhiannon Williamson is a freelance writer whose articles about living abroad, moving overseas with children, working abroad and investing internationally have appeared in publications around the world. She has a wealth of useful information on her website for would be expatriates from how to get the best international medical cover to how to find international schools, from getting jobs abroad to studying overseas.
Surgery Abroad – Is It For You?
Apr 15th
Author: Healthbase
A lot of people are attracted to cheap surgery abroad either because they lack insurance or because there is a long wait list for the needed surgery in their own country. But is surgery abroad for anyone and everyone?
Surgery abroad or medical tourism as the concept is more commonly known has become quite popular recently. It is not limited to cheap dental surgery in Mexico or inexpensive cosmetic surgery in Costa Rica or Panama any more. People are traveling halfway around the world for all sorts of procedures and those include orthopedic surgeries, fertility treatments, and even critical operations like organ transplantation, cancer treatment and cardiac surgeries.
But, is surgery abroad for everyone?
Obviously, overseas surgery is not an option if you are being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance at the time you need the surgery. This is common sense. However, there are many other occasions when you can benefit from obtaining treatment overseas for non-emergency conditions. But, to be able to seek treatment abroad, you should at least be fit enough to travel to your destination by plane or train or whichever mode of transportation you are using.
You can benefit from medical tourism if:
1. You do not have insurance. Unsurprisingly, a large number of medical travelers fall into this category. Not having health insurance can mean prohibitive prices charged by the hospital. It’s no secret that in the US, uninsured or self-pay patients are charged two to three times more for hospital care than those covered by health insurance. As reprehensible a practice as it may be, the patient is the one who has to take the blow. According to one Harvard study, half of personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical expenses. Filing for bankruptcy is not a solution, flying for medical tourism is. Medical tourism can save you 50% to 90% of the typical price your US hospital charges.
2. You have limited insurance. Limited insurance could mean high deductibles, high co-payments or high out-of-pocket expenses. Or it may mean that the medical care you need is not covered under your catastrophic insurance plan. In many ways, being underinsured is no better than being uninsured except that you are still paying your monthly insurance premium for either very little or nothing in return.
3. The treatment you are seeking is elective. Most health insurance plans out there do not cover elective surgeries. So even if you have insurance coverage and you know the procedure you need is not elective, it is very easy for your insurer to prove otherwise so they do not have to reimburse you if you went ahead and sought the treatment anyway. This is especially true in the case of many cosmetic and dental procedures.
4. The treatment you are seeking is not available in your country. For example, until some time ago, Birmingham Hip Resurfacing surgery (BHR) was not available in the United States. It was approved by the FDA only recently. So many patients from the US would go to India for the procedure. Patients still prefer to have this surgery in India as the surgeons there are much more experienced in performing BHR than the surgeons in the US and the cost is a lot cheaper there compared to the US.
5. There is a long wait for the treatment you are seeking. This can lead to deterioration in your condition and your quality of life. According to Jill Misangyi, a Canadian who went to India for her spinal decompression surgery to cure her 16-year old back pain, “Under the medicare system in Canada, waiting lists just to see specialists are 6 months to a couple of years, and another couple of years before or if they will do the surgery on you.” Medical tourism is the answer to the problems of many such patients who have spent a lifetime waiting for their turn and are still in the queue.
Once you have established your candidacy for medical tourism you should do a thorough research and planning before setting out on your medical trip abroad.
You can learn more about the growing trend of medical tourism, international healthcare facilities and surgeons and the details of the medical tourism process by logging on to the Healthbase website. Healthbase is a medical tourism facilitator committed to providing low-cost high quality medical travel services to the global medical consumer.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/surgery-abroad-is-it-for-you-404001.html
About the Author
About the Author: The author works for Healthbase which is a medical tourism facilitator connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world for low cost high quality surgical care in various categories including bariatric, orthopedic, cardiac, spinal, dental, cosmetic, laparoscopic, etc. To learn more, call 1-888-691-4584, email info.hb@healthbase.com, or visit http://www.healthbase.com
Boomers May Soon Overcome Top Objection To Retirement In Mexico
Apr 14th
Author: Jim Scherrer
By: Jim Scherrer
As retirees and 12 year residents of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, it’s quite easy to extol the benefits of living in Mexico. Of course, not every part of Mexico is the same (as is true in the US or Canada); however, we can certainly vouch for Puerto Vallarta. With its beautiful climate and landscape of the Sierra Madres cascading down into Banderas Bay, its kind and friendly local citizenry, its proximity to the US and Canada, and its lower cost of living, what’s there not to like in this wonderland south of the border?
English, as a second language, is widely spoken throughout the city, the safety of expats is of highest priority for the authorities with the rate of violent crime at a fraction of that back home, corruption significantly reduced, poverty virtually eradicated, and the cleanliness of this city make it a favorite resort destination for millions of visitors from throughout the world. All of the “Big box” stores such as Sam’s Club, Costco, Wal-Mart, Builders Square, Office Depot, nine beautiful signature golf courses, world class deep sea fishing, high speed internet, satellite TV, VOIP telephone service, etc. are all available in this beautiful city in the center of the Mexican Riviera. The face of Vallarta has been dramatically altered during the past decade with well maintained city parks, esplanades, a new malecon walkway along the beach, new water treatment facilities and miles of new water distribution lines, new or upgraded power distribution system throughout the city, new downtown above ground and underground parking garages, a new University of Guadalajara branch, a new Convention Center, the tripling in size of the Maritime Terminal, the quadrupling in size of the International Airport, and the addition of four new hospitals with modern and sophisticated diagnostic and surgical equipment, staffed with highly trained and experienced English speaking doctors.
Now that we’ve established the fact that Vallarta is a fine place to live or retire, let’s take a closer look at the last item above related to medical care.
With high quality medical care readily available in Vallarta, the cost of it, even though at a fraction of the cost in the US, can be a deciding factor when considering Mexico as a retirement location. Assuming that most retirees have reached or are fast approaching their 65th birthday, the availability, quality, and cost of medical care are of high importance. The quality of medical care in Vallarta is generally equal to or better than that received in the US and the cost varies from one third to one half of that in the States (speaking from experience and with authority!).
Having high quality medical care available in Mexico is one thing but paying for it is another since US provided Medicare for seniors fails to cross the border at this time. Various supplements to Medicare cover seniors traveling abroad for a limited period of time (for example, supplement F covers the holder for the first 60 days of international travel), however, they are inadequate for full time residents living abroad.
Although Mexican Social Security (IMSS) is available to expats, most under the age of 65 have their own private international health insurance which is somewhat costly as discussed in numerous articles and covered on websites such as MedToGo. For many years, we have used IHI/BUPA and can state emphatically; their coverage and service is absolutely great for expats living in Mexico and traveling worldwide.
Now, let’s assume you’ve reached the age of 65 and are considering Mexico as your retirement destination. It’s very difficult to abandon your free Medicare that you’ve contributed to for a lifetime, the cost of private insurance is almost prohibitive, and you can’t afford to take the risk of being uninsured. This is the main dilemma for seniors considering retirement abroad. Even so, there are more than five million (some reports indicate six million) Americans living abroad, of which more than a million reside in Mexico per the Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO). In fact, there are more US expats living abroad than reside in 24 of the states in the US as reported by Republicans Abroad!
Well, perhaps we’re on the verge of overcoming this top objection to retiring in Mexico! The US government has been approached by numerous expat groups such as the Puerto Vallarta based chapter of Democrats Abroad and the bipartisan group of American Citizens Abroad (ACA) with the intent of promoting the advancement of Medicare for expats living abroad.
Before Congress can enact such a law change, they must conduct demonstration projects in order to determine the feasibility and cost effectiveness of such law changes. The Americans for Medicare in Mexico, A.C. (AMMAC) have put forth a tremendous effort in promoting this benefit to eligible retirees and have encouraged many members of Congress to initiate such a demonstration project. They argue that not only have these eligible Medicare recipients paid into the fund over a lifetime, but the cost to the US taxpayers will be significantly reduced because rather than returning to the US for expensive and long term medical care, the majority of these expats will merely elect to have their medical care provided near their foreign residence at a fraction of the cost.
Proponents of the law change such as Professor David C. Warner of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas have written books and papers on the subject of “Getting What You Paid For: Extending Medicare to Eligible Beneficiaries in Mexico” and the newly appointed US Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, has been following the current efforts to establish a demonstration project for the initiation of Medicare in Mexico as a pilot program. In fact, Ambassador Pascual recently accompanied President Obama to a North American Summit in Guadalajara where one of the topics covered was Medicare in Mexico as reported by the Guadalajara Reporter.
In summarizing, we are anticipating the availability of Medicare for eligible retirees residing in Mexico in the not too distant future. Once this obstacle to retiring abroad has been eliminated, not only will millions of baby boomers in search for a less expensive and better quality of life be heading south of the border, but so too will millions of retiring Mexican Americans desiring to return to their homeland. Combined with all of the other obvious benefits of living in Paradise, free and high quality medical care for boomers will just be the icing on the cake!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/medical-tourism-articles/boomers-may-soon-overcome-top-objection-to-retirement-in-mexico-1185916.html
About the Author
Jim Scherrer has owned property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for 26 years and resided there for the past twelve years. The mission of his series of more than 60 articles pertaining to retirement in Puerto Vallarta is to reveal the recent changes that have occurred in Vallarta while dispelling the misconceptions about living conditions in Mexico. For the full series of articles regarding travel to and retirement in Vallarta as well as pertinent Puerto Vallarta links, please visit us at Puerto Vallarta Real Estate Buyers‘ Agents
The Costa Rica Extradition After 9 Years On The Run
Apr 8th
Author: William Freeman
My name is William Freeman, Jr. In April of 2000 Interpol arrested me at my home in Guadalupe, Costa Rica for charges that stemmed out of Wyoming in 1991. The charges were Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine. Costa Rican law and the Costa Rican Constitution do not have a provision for conspiracy laws; therefore, I decided to fight the Extradition.I was arraigned in Court and appointed a Public Defender. was advised of my rights under he laws of Extradition and also under the Constitution of Costa Rica.I was then transferred to San Sebastian Prison in San Jose, Costa Rica where I was confronted by a group of inmates at knifepoint. They wanted the clothes I had brought with me. I refused to relinquish my clothes and suffered the consequences with a broken arm.The unit I was placed in was equipped with 80 beds, yet there were 324 inmates in this unit, most of which were sleeping on the floor. I did sleep on the floor for the first couple of days until I was able to purchase a bed for $200. The prison does not supply you with clothing, dishes, hygiene products or bedding. This, you must have delivered to you from the outside if you, in fact, have someone to do this for you. The prison does not have hot water, nor does it have water for toilets. There were two faucets with cold running water which the inmates used for showers. I made arrangements to have bedding delivered to me, along with the many other items I needed, including the delivery of food. Without this outside assistance, I would never have survived the 15 months I spent there. The prison unit was dark, filthy, over-crowded and filled with disease, rats, and daily violence that resulted in the deaths of other inmates.My public defender was at first very confident that I would win the Extradition and be set free. According to her, it was just a formality that I must go through and we must wait the formal filing of charges by the United States Embassy. She was certain that they would not file these charges in 60-day time period allotted by the courts in accordance with the Bi-lateral Extradition treaty between the United States and Costa Rica. Late in the afternoon of day 60, the United States Embassy did file the formal charges. I decided that I would continue to fight the Extradition to the United States. For those of you not familiar with Extradition law, you have only three days to appeal the court?s decision.While I was awaiting a decision from the court, my attorney stopped taking my calls and would not respond to my inquiries. I knew that the court would be rendering a decision at any moment and my attorney?s failure to communicate with me had me quite concerned. It was at this time I decided to write my own appeal for a court decision I had not yet received. I feared that the court would decide against me and allow the United States to extradite me and that my attorney was working in conjunction with the United States Embassy. I was correct in this assumption, as the Court had in fact decided in favor of the United States to extradite me. But because I had anticipated this, I had a friend of mine hand-deliver the blanket appeal I had prepared to the court. This allowed me time to prepare another appeal that would answer the court?s decision. Had I not filed my appeal prior to receiving the court?s decision, the time allotted for appeal would have lapsed and I would have been extradited.To my amazement, when I read the court decision, the Judge had taken my one conspiracy charge and made two charges out it to fit a similar charge of distribution of cocaine under the laws of Costa Rica. To be extradited from another country, both countries must have the same exact law. According to the laws of Extradition, if the country you are residing in does not have a similar law, then you are not extraditable. Due to the fact that Costa Rica does not have conspiracy laws, I would not have been found. Therefore, the judge changed my charge from conspiracy cocaine to distribution of cocaine, now justifying my Extradition, as the laws are now the same in both countries.I decided it would be in my best interest to continue studying the law and I made arrangements to have the Costa Rican law books purchased for me and delivered to the prison so that I may study for my defense. I was doing a much better job than the attorney I had and my appeal had been accepted. This allowed me more time to study and submit another appeal. I am fluent in Spanish and this was of great assistance to me in my studies of the law and preparation of legal briefs. Through my studies, I also had studied the conventions that govern Extradition law and I was becoming very knowledgeable in law which related to Extradition, the Bi-Lateral Treaty, and the Constitution of Costa Rica.As I had been preparing everything in Spanish, the court assumed that I had had legal assistance of some sort. I then learned some very important things that directly related to my case. The first one was that my rights had been violated because all the documents I had received to date were in Spanish. Due to the fact that I am American and my native language is English, the court violated my rights by not having an interpreter present during the court proceedings and that the documents I had been receiving were not translated into English. I filed an appeal with the Tribunal Appeals Court which decided in my favor and had the Extradition proceedings suspended until an interpreter was appointed and all the documents were translated and prepared in the English language. This bought me time to prepare my case on appeal. I also learned that due to the fact that I was looking at a sentence of ten years to life, it was a violation of the Costa Rican Constitution. Costa Rica does not allow indeterminate sentences. This now required that the United States provide the Costa Rican Government a judicial promise the I would not receive an indeterminate sentence. The problem with this is that the judicial system in the United States will not allow a judge to make any type of promise to another country, nor can he make a promise on a case that has not yet been tried in a United States court of law. I had the United States in a ?Catch 22? on this point. Under Costa Rican law, there is a five-year statute of limitations to arrest and convict a person. My charges stemmed from a 1991 charge so I was protected under this law. It was at this time that I noticed that Article 16b of the Extradition Treaty was unconstitutional under the Costa Rican Constitution which states that once a person is extradited, the United States can also charge a person with other crimes that were not included in the request for Extradition. With this information at hand, I began to prepare my defense what I believed to be a winning defense. I also decided that I needed a defense attorney to present my arguments. It was at this time that I hired my own attorney to do this for me. When he came to visit me at San Sebastian Prison and read the documents I had prepared, he was confidant the I would be set free. My new attorney accompanied me before a panel of a three-judge appeals court tribunal. The United States Embassy was also present for these proceedings. As I began to present my arguments, it was very apparent that the Judges were not listening to me and that they, in fact, were once again trying to twist the laws. When I argued that the statute of limitations had expired, they responded by saying that there is no statute of limitations in the United States. But Extradition laws clearly state that Extradition laws of the country of residence shall govern the Extradition proceedings. I could see that I was not being listened to and, therefore, finished presenting the arguments I had prepared. I then returned to San Sebastian Prison to await the decision.During the days that followed, I tried to contact my attorney to inquire if he had any response from the court and to get feedback from him. Once again, I ran into the prior problem I had with my public defender; he would not answer my calls. I had a friend of mine try to call him and his calls also went unanswered. I then had someone go to his office, only to find that he had moved. When a friend on mine finally located him at his new office, he informed my friend that he had been confronted and told to drop my case if he had any political ambitions for he future. Once again, I found myself without an attorney. It was at this time that I decided to file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Costa Rica. I filed the appeal stating that (1) the statute of limitations had lapsed; (2) the United States had to provide a judicial promise, stating that I would not receive a indeterminate sentence; and (3) that conspiracy does not exist in Costa Rica; therefore, these proceedings should be dropped. The Supreme Court issued an order to the United States Embassy, The Costa Rican Courts and immigration that I was not to be touched by anyone and that I could not be removed from Costa Rica.I then had another public defender appointed for me and she was, at first, very confidant that I would be set free. But I had been studying the law that pertained to Article 16b of the Treaty that allowed other charges to be filed against a person that was extradited. I had been visiting with another private attorney who was knowledgeable in Extradition law and together we prepared an argument to submit to the Sala IV, the Costa Rican Supreme Court, challenging the Bi-Lateral Extradition Treaty between the United States and Costa Rica, stating that Article 16b of the Treaty was unconstitutional and that the Treaty needed to be ratified to reflect this unconstitutional article. I had to submit the argument two times. The first time, the Sala IV returned my argument, stating that the argument had merit but I lacked the proper stamps that must be submitted with a brief and that I must follow their established format. They asked me to rewrite the brief and resubmit it, at which time they would make their decision. In the meantime, all Extradition proceedings would be suspended, not only against me, but also against any other persons that may be awaiting Extradition to the United States.With this filed in the Sala IV and having been accepted, along with the Sala IV order stating that I could not be removed from Costa Rica Territory, I was confident I would go free. Legally, I had won on every point of the law and I was not extraditable. I needed only to wait for the ruling to be handed down that would set me free in Costa Rica.On May 9, 2001 my name was called in the San Sebastian prison. I was put into a prison van and brought to the airport, where two United States Marshals were waiting for me, along with a judge I had never seen, and representatives from the United States Embassy. With my Supreme Court order in hand and under protest, I was illegally taken from Costa Rica and brought to the United States, where I was eventually sentenced to five years in a federal prison for Conspiracy To Posses With Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Cocaine. I completed my sentence on November 21, 2003.
Written by: William Warren Freeman Jr.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/the-costa-rica-extradition-after-9-years-on-the-run-90057.html
About the Author
About the author: I am a 55 year old exconvicted drug felon that was Extradited from Costa Rica by Interpol after 9 years on the run and living in Costa Rica. I spent 15 months in a Costa Rica maximum security prison. I now live in Costa Rica again.
Installing Solar Panels On Home
Apr 7th
Author: Roberto Luongo
In the present day of cutthroat energy scarcity and a call for environmental-friendliness, installing solar panels has come up as an ultimate solution. Solar panels are the best solution to get uninterrupted and free source of electricity with some initial investment. Home solar panels can be installed on the top of your house in a way that catches maximum sun light during the daytime. The more the device is exposed to the sun, the more electricity you get.
Now a days, solar panels can be easily adjusted to receive the sun light or a tracking device can be fitted to trap sun light throughout the day. Home Solar panels are a permanent solution to get free electricity in any part of the world. Sun light is a free source of energy that is trapped by a home solar panel to generate electricity. The tracking system adjusted with the home solar panel continuously rotates the panels in the direction of the sun to ensure uninterrupted source of solar energy.
Home solar panels are a bit costly but they are long-term solution for all your energy needs. Home solar panels are one-time investments that ensure cost effectiveness and environmental-friendly energy supply. Home solar panels must be faced directly to the sun light and all obstacles must be removed from the path of the sun light for optimum result.
Home solar panels, however, give the best result if not put under full sun everyday. Adjusting your home solar panel has become much easier these days. Solar panel mounts are used to install the photovoltaic cells of the home solar panel. These solar panel mounts come in different forms, which hold the home solar panels in right angle and direction to catch the sunrays at the appropriate time and duration.
For the best result, home solar panels must be mounted on the top of your house. Mounting your home solar panels, should be done by an experienced hand. Never try mounting the home solar panels of your own, unless you have the required experience. Enjoy the best out of your home solar panel but ensure proper installation first, else your investment in the solar panel may not pay you back up to your expectations.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/installing-solar-panels-on-home-585218.html
About the Author
The article is contributed by a professional content writer, having experiences of working in different industries. For further information on solar panel suppliers and Home solar panels please visit http://www.getsolar.com/
