General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you could move abroad, would you? [View all]spooky3
(34,441 posts)Last edited Wed Jan 9, 2013, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)
you have paid into it all your life in order to have it pay most of your post age 65 health expenses. You lose all of that credit if you retire overseas. There are also restrictions in some countries on retirement-aged people's emigrating or that may exclude them from the health care coverage. For example, in Australia, you can get care, but you have to pay for it by having a health care insurance policy that is comparable to their Medicare system for their citizens. You also have to have huge financial assets, to qualify for a visa and avoid being a burden on Aus.:
http://www.retiring-overseas.com/australia-retirement-visa.html
Take a look at the retirement websites where this issue is discussed for a better articulation of the problem--for example: http://www.aaro.org/medicare
I know a couple who live in different countries because of this.