It should have been a perfect day for me.
Gray skies. 45 degrees. Drizzle.
Just right for a short-sleeve walk to Safeway to pick up my prescription. More about that in a moment.
What made the day a bit less than perfect was my physical reaction to it. Cool weather usually invigorates me. But not yesterday.
Even though I have been getting adequate sleep, I felt a bit foggy. The way I feel in hot weather.
I once dated a woman who grew up in Miami. During winters in Oregon, she would get almost suicidal. She was very dependent on her Florida sunshine. I think the syndrome was called SAD.
Well, I am not a SAD guy. But I may have become reliant on sunshine to bolster my usual "practically perfect in every way in this best of all possible worlds" attitude.
And I could have used a bit of that attitude once I was at the Safeway prescription desk. I stopped in for a refill last Sunday. But there were no refills left on that particular prescription.
The clerk told me she would fax a request to my doctor. I was to return on Wednesday for a pick up.
Knowing the depths to which efficiency has sunk in American medicine, I waited an additional day. Of course, my doctor's office had not yet responded to the fax. When I called my doctor's office, the receptionist took my telephone number and said she would call back later in the day. She didn't.
There is a move amongst American expatriates in Mexico to have Medicare coverage extended south of the border. If that happens, say good-bye to the current efficiency of Mexican medicine and hello to American governmental gridlock.
In Mexico, I merely take my empty box to the drug store where I buy medication well below American prices. No prescription. No faxes. No insurance bureaucracy. Fast and simple.
I may simply wait until I get back to Mexico to refill my prescription.
But I suspect I will miss this lovely weather.
16 comments:
You knew exactly what was going to happen when you trekked to the Safeway. You just wanted to be slapped back to reality of what it is like to live unhampered by the overly protected nanny state of America which minute by minute is getting worse..
While you are Safeway, by that large bottle of Diet Coke, because possible next time you return for your slap in the face reality of the states it may be banned like in New York......
I hope Medicare doesn't extend to Mexico, I can't even imagine the quagmire that will create....
Even if Medicare were extended to Mexico, the number of people eligible for it wouldn't even be a round-off. It would make no difference to Mexican medical care.
I usually agree with your assessment that the expatriate community has a very small economic footprint in Mexico. And, in a macro analysis, you are undoubtedly correct about the impact of Medicare on the Mexican medical system. But I am not so certain about the micro effect -- on those doctors that make their living off of the expatriate community.
Over-regulation of daily life is one of the reasons I headed south.
Steve you should know better. Prescriptions are not just a buy over the counter commodity in the U.S. for a reason. Physicians and pharmacies are morally & legally responsible for the safe and effective use of prescriptions by YOU. The legal "profession" is complicit in this, harvesting settlements for malfeasance. I suspect your reliance on the efficacy of an $8 an hour part-time receptionist is your undoing! I also seem to recall your blood pressure medicine being switched to a medicine that was less effective, despite assurances it was okay, and you had to change back to an Rx that worked for you. A pharmacist here would be required to have " a little talk with you" when changing Rx that would have alerted you to ineffective treatment, perhaps he may have suggested that you buy that blood pressure cuff you talked about replacing. If its any consolation, I'm not happy that as a licensed and board certified practitioner for 35 years, I have to jump through the same hoops you do for refills. But that's life NOTB.
I am painfully aware of the complicity of my profession in creating this morass. And I appreciate the dilemma my doctor is in. Her liability insurer requires her to periodically see patients before renewing prescriptions even if that means the patient goes without medication -- risking another bit of litigation.
I have come to appreciate Mexico's system of treating its citizens like adults -- adults who take responsibility for their own actions. And who accept the consequences of their actions.
By the way, let me thank you again for your suggestion on changing medications. My former physician (who you have known for a LONG time) concurred with your recommendation.
While cleaning up around here, I found an old eition of our high school newspaper that featured a photograph of you triumphing on the mat. I was going to publish it. But I didn't want to discover the power of the courts with a lower sense of nostalgia than my own.
"Over-regulation of daily life is one of the reasons I headed south."
welcome to my world. Lots of new Mexican immigration rules went into effect today - it seems that Mexico is being directed to make it harder for EVERYONE to leave the U.S. Soon they will need a wall to keep their citizens in.
I have seen posts on the new regulations. The financial requirements do not strike me as being particularly onerous. I am just not certain what the logic is. My theory is that Mexico does not want expatriates with limited resources entering the country and using limited resources. Of course, in the end, it does not much matter to Mexico if there are fewer expatriates here. Our presence truly has a minimal impact on Mexico in general.
What I have not seen is how difficult it will be to transfer from the old FM2 to a permanent resident visa. But I will find out in March when I renew.
Ahh, but there is the issue of when they DON''t have your meds and have no idea when the "laboratory" will send them........I've been to all farmacias in town (which is a lot) - none have my blood pressure med!
I'm trying to stay calm - I'm trying to stay calm.......ha
Most of the expats here go to the States anyway. McAllen, Brownsville and San Antonio would suffer - Mexico, not much at all..........
I couldn't agree with you more Steve. I don't think I even realized how much we were treated like children and regulated to the point of frustration in Canada, which is every bit as bad as the States in that regard. It was something that came about gradually.
After moving to Mexico, it is a breath of fresh air to be treated like an adult and be allowed to take responsibility for our own lives.
Of course, being an adult also means dealing with the "track down the medicine" game.
I have faced that same issue. For some reason, I could not find a dosage of my medication low enough to match my prescription. Nor could my doctor. I mentioned the conundrum to a friend who told me I could find what I needed in Manzanillo. He was correct. Sometimes, it is just a matter of finding a good source.
Yes well with all due respect to what must be a pretty sweet retirement package - there are many people that have been living in Mexico for 10 -20 years; people that own houses. They retired on social security - and all of a sudden they need 40% more income to stay in their country and keep their house. It is a problem for many to have such a large percentage of their income increase required in order to remain in Mexico.
I suspect most Mexican doctors would not be interested in the Medicare hassle -- in the same way that a number of American doctors have stopped seeing Medicare patients.
What seems to be unclear is whether the new requirements will apply only to new visa requests or whether all renewals will be covered. The vast majority of the expatriate community in our area come down on tourist visas. But I suspect, of the handful of year-round residents, some people will be affected in our community, as well. After all, most expatriates come to the Melaque area because it is reportedly an inexpensive place to live.
Surprisingly, the local message board has been relatively silent on the issue.
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