PLAYA ENCANTO M41 LT 14, Puerto Penasco, Mex,

Grant MacKenzie Sr. | RE/MAX LEGACY ROCKY POINT | request more info | 602 334 43 59

PLAYA ENCANTO M41 LT 14, Puerto Penasco, Mex Separate Guest house built in 2003 INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

4BR/3BA Single Family House offered at $719,000 Year Built 1995 Sq Footage 1,400 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 3 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 4 Car garage Lot Size 2,200 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Enjoy your own piece of "Paradise" only 20 minutes from downtown Rocky Point with this furnished 3 bedroom Beachhouse plus an additional 1,000 square foot seperate Guest house and 1,000 square foot garage for your Jet Ski's, Fishing Boat and or Quads. This home is furnished and ready for your families enjoyment. Rent it out when you are not using it. The home, Guest House and Garge is "Solar Powered" however underground utilities are currently being installed with a targeted completion date of July 2009 The seller will consider terms so invest in your own vacation escape and watch it appreciate as the market returns. Photo 1 click on thumbnail to enlarge

PROPERTY FEATURES High/Vaulted ceiling Tile floor Dining room Refrigerator Stove/Oven Microwave Granite countertop Laundry area - inside Balcony, Deck, or Patio COMMUNITY FEATURES Garage parking OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES FURNISHED READY FOR RENT

ADDITIONAL LINKS Local schools Mortgage calculator Virtual Tour Website

Contact info: Grant MacKenzie Sr. RE/MAX LEGACY ROCKY POINT 602 334 43 59 For sale by agent/broker View my other listings

Mexicare: $250 a year covers it all ROCKY POINT, PUERTO PENASCO, MEXICO

Mexicare: $250 a year covers it all

60 comments by Chris Hawley - Aug. 29, 2009 07:36 PM
Republic Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY - It sounds like the perfect health plan: medical care with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work - all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year. To get it, all you have to do is move to Mexico.

As the United States debates an overhaul of its health-care system, thousands of American retirees in Mexico have quietly found a solution of their own, signing up for the health-care plan run by the Mexican Social Security Institute.

"It was one of the primary reasons I moved here," said Judy Harvey of Prescott Valley, who now lives in Alamos, Sonora. "I couldn't afford health care in the United States. . . . To me, this is the best system that there is." Still, the system has flaws: The facilities aren't cutting edge, pre-existing conditions aren't covered for the first two years, and some newer medicines are not free. And the deal may not last long because the Mexican government says IMSS, as the system is known, is "notorious" for losing money.

IMSS is the biggest of several government-run medical systems in Mexico. It operates 1,507 clinics and 264 hospitals across Mexico, and foreigners living here legally are welcome to enroll. The annual membership ranges from $95 for someone younger than 19 to $250 for people older than 60.

The system keeps costs down by running all of its own treatment centers and employing its own doctors, something that none of the U.S. health-reform proposals includes.

American enrollees have generated some resentment among Mexican taxpayers who have been paying into the system for decades, and IMSS officials say they don't want to be overrun by bargain-hunting foreigners.

"If they started flooding down here for this, it wouldn't be sustainable," said Javier Lopez Ortiz, IMSS director in the popular retirement enclave of San Miguel de Allende.

The medical care doesn't cost a dime after paying the annual fee, and it is usually good, retirees and health experts say. Word of the plan has spread through chat boards and in the "retire in Mexico" books that have multiplied in recent years.

"They take very good care of us," said Jessica Moyal, 59, of Hollywood, Fla., who now lives in San Miguel de Allende. She and her husband have private insurance and originally enrolled in IMSS just as a backup, but they use it for all kinds of routine care.

It's unclear how many Americans use IMSS, but with 40,000 to 80,000 U.S. retirees living in Mexico, the number probably runs "well into the thousands," said David Warner, a public-policy professor at the University of Texas who has studied expatriates and their health care.

IMSS says it doesn't track foreigners, but the agency's membership director said recently that there may be as many as 4,000 such enrollees in Baja California alone.

Warner said most American retirees enroll in IMSS as a form of cheap insurance against medical emergencies, while using private doctors or traveling back to the U.S. for less-urgent care. Medicare, the U.S. insurance plan for retirees, cannot be used outside the United States.

Lure for retirees

When Ron and Jemmy Miller of Shawano, Wis., decided to retire early, they knew affording health care was going to be a problem.

Ron was a self-employed contractor and Jemmy was a loan officer at a bank. At age 61 and 52, respectively, they were too young to qualify for Medicare, but too old to risk going without health insurance.

"We knew that we couldn't retire without Medicare," Jemmy Miller said. "We're pretty much in Mexico now because we can't afford health care in the States."

The couple learned about IMSS from Mexico guidebooks and the Internet. They moved to the central city of Irapuato in 2006, got residency visas as foreign retirees and then enrolled in IMSS.

The IMSS system is similar to an HMO in the United States, Jemmy Miller said. Patients are assigned a primary-care physician and given a passport-size ID booklet that includes records of appointments. Doctors can refer patients to specialists, a bigger hospital or one of the IMSS specialty hospitals in cities such as Guadalajara or Mexico City.

Patients make appointments by calling their local clinic. Walk-ins may have to wait an hour to be seen, enrollees said. Medicines are mostly generics and are dispensed from the IMSS' own pharmacy.

In 2007, Ron Miller had an emergency appendectomy at the local IMSS hospital. He was there for about a week and had a double room to himself. The food was good, the nurses were attentive and doctors stopped by three or four times a day to check on him, he said. At the end of it all, there was no bill, just an entry in the ID booklet.

The Millers live in Patzcuaro, Mexico, now. They may be moving back to the United States, at least for part of the year, but Jemmy Miller said they were so impressed that they want to try to maintain the IMSS coverage.

"If something big really comes up, we'd probably come back to Mexico for our medical care," she said.

No frills

IMSS is one of several public health systems in Mexico, each with its own network of hospitals and clinics. IMSS is funded by a combination of payroll deductions, employer contributions and government funds, and covers 50.8 million workers.

The system was founded in 1943, eight years after the United States' Social Security program, amid calls for the Mexican government to better protect workers. It came during an era of socialist changes: Mexico had recently nationalized its railroads, electric companies and oil industry and was redistributing some 45 million acres seized from big landowners to small farmers.

Another hospital system, the Institute of Security and Social Services for Government Workers (ISSSTE), covers 11.2 million civil servants. The Army, Navy and Petroleos Mexicanos, the Mexican oil monopoly, have their own hospitals.

Individual states and cities also have their own hospitals, usually known as General Hospitals. They usually handle uninsured patients.

IMSS facilities are a step up from the state hospitals, but not as advanced as Mexico's private hospitals, which are often world-class, said Curtis Page, a Tempe doctor and co-author of a book about health care in Mexico. But many of the same doctors work in both private and IMSS hospitals, he said.

"The surgeons are the same, and they're going to do quality work," Page said. "You're probably going to get 90 percent of what private-pay (patients) get."

When Michael Kirkpatrick, 63, of Austin, fell off his motorcycle near his home in San Miguel de Allende, IMSS surgeons gave him a stainless-steel artificial hip.

The IMSS ambulance that took him to the hospital was new, and the equipment was modern. But his room was no-frills, Kirkpatrick said, and there was no television or radio. There also was no physical rehabilitation after the surgery, just a check-up a few weeks later.

"There was not the kind of follow-through and therapy that you would expect if you were doing this in the First World," Kirkpatrick said. "But it was satisfactory. The hip feels good."

Bob Story, 75, of St. Louis, had prostate-reduction surgery at an IMSS hospital in Mazatlán and discovered that patients were expected to bring their own pillows.

It was a small price to pay, he said, for a surgery that would have cost thousands of dollars back home.

"I would say it's better than any health plan I've had in the States," he said.

Taking advantage?

Not everyone is happy about foreigners using the system.

"It doesn't seem fair," said Roberto Meléndez as he waited for a relative outside the IMSS clinic in San Miguel de Allende. "These people can afford private hospitals. Why do they want to come here?"

Paulina Guérnica, a doctor at the clinic, said foreign retirees make up about 15 percent of the patients she inherited from an English-speaking doctor who recently moved to another clinic. Other doctors at the clinic said they had fewer foreigners.

Meanwhile, IMSS has been dipping into its emergency funds as rising unemployment cuts into the flow of payments from workers and companies.

The agency's biggest expense is its pension system, which foreign retirees don't qualify for. But the Voluntary Affiliation Family Health Insurance program, which includes foreign retirees as well as Mexicans, has seen its deficit grow at an average 24 percent annually since 2001, to more than $318 million in 2008.

The annual fee covers only 14 percent of the cost of the plan, with the federal government picking up most of the rest.

"The urgency of reviewing the amount and structure of the fees charged for this voluntary insurance is clear," the IMSS report said. "It is notorious for its insufficiency of funds."

IMSS officials at the agency's headquarters did not respond to requests for interviews about the foreign enrollees. But Jesús Felipe González, director of the Mexican Public Health Society, an advisory group, said the agency needs to guard against becoming a catch basin for uninsured U.S. Baby Boomers.

But he also said retirees have helped the country, providing jobs and bringing development to many towns. American enrollees said they don't believe they're taking advantage.

"If someone takes offense at us coming down and using IMSS, then I'm sorry," said Don Lott, 71, of Dallas, who had a hernia operation in Guadalajara in February. "But I think on the whole, we're a benefit to the country."

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WHY CHOOSE ROCKY POINT, PUERTO PENASCO, MEXICO

Whats your planning for you vacation for this spring break? If you love to travel extensively and wish to enjoy natural beauty, then youll perhaps think of Puerto Penasco, commonly known as Rocky Point Mexico. This vacation destination has varieties of excitements and activities to offer.

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Puerto Penasco is such an awe-inspiring place that more and more travelers are craving to go there for lots of reasons. Rocky Point is one of the most well-known vacation rentals, which is one of the nearest beach areas in Arizona, Mexico. And most likely, for this reason, most of the Americans choose treading here and enjoy sand and the sun here.

Whats it that Urges You to Visit this Place?

Aside from the natural beauty in Rocky Point Mexico, it is the place where youll observe the clichs meeting and the cultures shining. Youve warm weather, clear sky to enjoy here. Walk down the clean beaches. Also you cannot miss the chance to enjoy the Mexican cuisine! If you really long for spending your best of your vacation times, you are recommended to visit this place.

Rocky Point House Rentals: Accommodation Facilities

Most people are fascinated so much by this destination that they wish to make it their second home. Here you will find wide options of Rocky Point Vacation rentals in Mexico and also make your own house here. You will really admire the fine accommodation services offered here.

There are luxurious Rocky Point Villas rentals facilities for you. This will let you to be close to the seashore and you can enjoy the sound of the waves all the time. If you wish to have fine condo near the seashore, you will find many! One of such exotic vacation rentals is El Fin Del Mundo, which offers all sorts of amenities you will love to have!

How is it Beneficial to Buy Property in Rocky Point?

Since Rocky Point is such a popular place for most of the travelers and traders, it is perfect place to invest. You can also buy property here or consider for beach homes for sale in Mexico.Condos in Rocky Point are very much in demand and most people have therefore converted their apartments and homes into luxurious condominiums. Ask me for prices here or visit my website www.ourrockypointrealtor.com .

Is it Easy to Get there?

The main thing for this place that makes it more convenient for traveling is you can easily get there. Because its only 60 miles south of the border, you can easily reach there from the US. Its just few hours drive from Tucson and Tempe. This destination is full of visitors in March who come to enjoy their Spring break.

What Are the Attractions that Will Grab Your Attention?

The attractions at Rocky Point are many. There is splendid sunshine one can enjoy, strikingly clean sandy beaches one can walk down, fresh and sparkling water and much more. There is colorful nightlife with many bars whereby you can enjoy yourself till the dawn. Those who are 18+ are legally permitted to buy and enjoy alcohol!

Hows the Climatic Condition?

The temperature is normally 80 degree F all the year. The climatic condition is normally clean here. There is approximately 2 inch of rainfall. It is therefore, a fine choice for having a sun-drenched vacation!

Do You Like Fishing? Participate in Fishing Tournaments!

If you like fishing, youve plenty of sport fishing occasions here at the seashores like Las Conchas and La Choya in Rocky Point. The varieties of fish youll see here for example dogfish, swordfish, flounder, marlin, sea bass, croaker etc. You will be happy to know that there is fishing tournaments arranged here you can partake!

Rocky Point, Mexico is full of cultures, excitements and recreational activities that are enough to make your spring break or vacation unforgettable. Enjoy to the fullest here and retrieve your lost-strength by being in the lap of the nature!