Panama trip

You also may want to read up on blogs to meet some expats and search Expat Exchange forum.  Many will make arrangements to meet with future expats to discuss the good, bad and ugly.  Hope this helps.  I have found many virtual friends through blogs and have met those virtual friends when in Panama.  Hope to settle there by 2015.

We are in David. We will be visiting family in the US in early August so unfortunately won't be here to meet you. But, if we can help by email drop us a line. info (at) thePanamaAdventure (dot) com

Kris

jacdun wrote:

My husband and I are considering panama as a retirement home.  We are coming for two weeks in early august and plan to travel and explore during that time.  Meeting expats is high on our wish list.  Is there a way to meet with some of you over coffee or a beer to ask our questions?.
Jaclin

Where do I find the expat  forum?8

expats.com  We are moving to El Valle de Anton the 1st of August. contact us and we can get together.

Gayle & Glenn

Thanks, Glenn, we will do that.  Looking orward to meeting you.
Jaclin

My husband is mike.  We are excited about going to explore.  Ww e will be interested in finding out how you chose where to relocate.
Didn't mean to leave Gayle out especially since we are most interested in meeting other couples. 
Jaclin

contact us at [email protected]
I would rather communicate off the forum.

Gayle and Glenn

Sorry that you will be visiting in the states while we are in panama.  You will probably be enjoying each and every second with family and friends.
I certainly hope that is the case.
We have.sooooo many questions.  I guess the first one would be about the health care situation.   We've heard so many conflictin bits and pieces.  Is it available or not?
Jaclin

The forum looks like a.dating site.

Thanks One daughter has a new baby, and the other has a new degree and job in Seattle. Lots of good things going on in the US!

We have found health care here to be excellent. I'm a nurse and I am scared by the state of health care in the US. I could go on and on... Here in Panama, our experiences have been excellent. http://thepanamaadventure.com/information.html#Medical  The link will take you to some blog posts we've written. My mother in law was with us for the first few months and saw a number of doctors, and got more help and success than she had gotten in the US for years.

We have chosen to pay as we go so I can't offer any opinions on insurance. I know that Medicare won't cover you here. Check some of the other sites like http://www.boqueteguide.com, Chiriqui Chatter, etc. (links - http://thepanamaadventure.com/links)

Pretty much the only thing we feel we lack is mail service. Things take literally months to get here through the regular mail, and getting a mail service is expensive. Otherwise we have everything we need here, and many things are so much better.

Kris

jacdun wrote:

Sorry that you will be visiting in the states while we are in panama.  You will probably be enjoying each and every second with family and friends.
I certainly hope that is the case.
We have.sooooo many questions.  I guess the first one would be about the health care situation.   We've heard so many conflictin bits and pieces.  Is it available or not?
Jaclin

Congratulations, bet you can't wait to hold that baby.  I'm a retired nurse midwife and a granny, too. I have to tell you there is little that makes my heart swell like loving a new baby, especially when it is partly mine.
My concern about health care for myself and husband, who is in his late 60s. The new health care bill is frightening and part of our desire to relocate stems from fear caused by restrictions it will impose.
Is it really less expensive to visit a dentist, fam practice doc, hospital, etc...

Nurse midwife? Awesome! I really wanted to do that, but we left NYC and weren't in an area where that education was offered. I did work in OB for quite a few years though and loved it.

Did you see the link I posted yesterday? I should take you to some blog posts I wrote about our experiences with health care here, and the costs involved. Yes, it is far cheaper here and the quality of care is generally much better. This is also a common topic of discussion on the forums. Check some of the other sites like http://www.boqueteguide.com, Chiriqui Chatter, etc. (links - http://thepanamaadventure.com/links) You should be able to search for topics to help find what you are looking for.

Kris

jacdun wrote:

Congratulations, bet you can't wait to hold that baby.  I'm a retired nurse midwife and a granny, too. I have to tell you there is little that makes my heart swell like loving a new baby, especially when it is partly mine.
My concern about health care for myself and husband, who is in his late 60s. The new health care bill is frightening and part of our desire to relocate stems from fear caused by restrictions it will impose.
Is it really less expensive to visit a dentist, fam practice doc, hospital, etc...

Hi Kris,
I'll check out the sources you suggested.  Thank you.
Funny about you being in NYC.  I did nursing school there and returned to SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn for my midwifery program.  You should have stuck around, we could have been classmates.  Now, most of the program is on-line and much of the clinicals can be done off-site if approved.  There is hope for you yet!
Jaclin