How things are in the States is why many of us are here

moving from a prosperous low crime country to poor high crime countries makes sense?

Does not sound like you have been here, its not any worse than most small Canadian towns.
even there are places and things you just don't do, common sense goes a long way.
My wife and myself have not felt unsafe at any time since moving here, but then we don't walk alleys at night or flash bling to attract attention.

I couldn't agree more one must exercise a little street saavy and common sense when traveling , if you look and act like a target , anyone can hit the bullseye!!

Prosperous low cost country?  If you're speaking of Canada, ok.  If you're speaking of the USA, it is neither prosperous or low cost.

I was wondering if he was referring to the U.S. as well...not only is it not low cost , it is certaintly  not safe either!i

you are just plain wrong, it is amongst the most prosperous in the world

the US is one of the safest in the world

If you are speaking of the US being prosperous, that's not what I've experienced and what the stats are showing.  Canadians are actually more prosperous than US people!  People are leaving the US because the job and business sectors are doing so very poorly.  Why is business doing poorly?  Well beccause of the new healthcre law.  Why was that law so damning? Because it is so huge and complex, it can't be figured out easily, and one thing business doesn't like is uncertainty.  The healthcare bill makes business dealings uncertain.  It also changed a big sector of our society that was previously held by private businesses...insurance companies.  Now it's put into the government's realm.  Cosequently a lot of very large businesses went off shore or expatriated.  Now I'm not saying bad times hit everyone equally.  There are pockets of prosperity, primarily in the upper 1%, but for the rest of America things have not panned out so well.  Example:  I have 2 sons, one in business the other not.  The one who is in business is just barely holding on.  He has 2 part time jobs in addition to his business.  My other son can not find work anywhere.  Of course his case is quite different from the eldest son.  He has been hammered beyond belief to the point he cannot survive under the current system.  He picks up work as he finds it here and there, but nothing permanent and with a permanent paycheck.  Then we have added to our paycheck, the worry over what is going to happen to our currency.  Following thagt, US citizens are wondering what is going to happen to their sovereignty.  At least those who are paying attention are wondering.  Add to all of this mess, there is the push by a select few to push the US and the rest of the planet into a 'New World Order,' an order that no one asked for nor did anyone want.  The surprising thing about this event is, countries are not just rolling over for it.  Now I find that refreshing!  It's one thing to 'feel' part of humanity and your fellow man, it's quite another to push us into one big happy family, when a good number of those family members do not get along very well, and in fact, have different world views!  Wow.  I've written to tome, unwittingly.  sorry about that.

I see you have been living in the conservative bubble.  Let me give you some facts.  Here is a website that list average incomes.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/2269 … y-dollars/

You can see trhat you in no way moved to Belize because it is prospreous.  There are many websites that will show you your impression of the US economy is incorrect.   as regards the ACA according to economists it has limited impact on the economy but by moving to Belize American Airlines becomes your emergency room for serious issues.

Here you see that the homicide rate in the US is pretty low.

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-inf … urder-rate

I have no interest in debating with you.  I have traveled extensively throughout Europe , Africa,  Central and South America and happen to find the country of Belize and it's people to be welcoming and generous. This has been my experience and I've had no reason for fear or apprehension when traveling there and plan to buy and build as soon as possible. This forum is about Belize and open to those who are thinking about moving there and possibly building and I'm really not interested in your opinions on the current situation in the U.S.

Thank you.

Katzgar
This Forum is for people who live in Belize sharing information with people who care to move here.  It is not a place for you to 'puff' about your perceptions.
We answer questions as best and directly as we can.  That's it.  This is not a forum for debate.  For example, I answered a question on Mennonite construction and how I was dissatisfied.  That was my experience.  Another person answered the question by saying they were quite satisfied.  Both perspectives are equally valid as they were given from 2 different personal experiences.
Why is it important to you the motives people have for moving here?  Is it your desire to invalidate them, if so, why?  Does it give you some smug sense of superiority to do so?
Please, do move on.

The economy is quite good in the US I've shown you proof of that. Crime is quite low in the US I've shown you that also. I just want you to know that you moved to a country with a higher crime rate a much much poor economy and a much lower grade of healthcare than what you left but obviously that's your choice. This is very easy to research on the internet

1.  There is no crime in my community.  Zero.
2.  The economy does not matter a hill of beans to me.  I live on a Social Security check, which I CANNOT DO in the USA. 
3.  I found US medical to be a sham.  Medicare takes $100 out of my SS check each month, then the doctor charges another $100, and the visit usually produces no good result.  Then I have to wait another 6 months to a year to see if Medicare will pay the cost.  In Belize, I visit the doctor, $36, or I visit a specialist, $63.  I do not have to sit in a crowded room full of sick coughing children.  Waiting rooms in this part of Belize are open air.
By paying such a low cost for medical, I can then afford to go to the dentist and have a broken tooth pulled.  Cost in the US: $1,125.  $125 from the dentist, $1,000 from the oral surgeon he referres me to.  Dentist will not do the job.  I check in to the dentist here, he looks at the broken tooth, and asks "Would you like for me to pull that now?"  Taken back by the quickness of the event, I say "Yes"  He gives me a shot of novocaine, waits a couple of minutes, pulls the broken tooth, packs it with gauze, I pay $25, and I go home.  BE CLEAR ON THAT.  $25 vs $1,250 without any hitches or problems.  You can believe what you like abourt the US, but after having experienced medical in the US and dental in the US and taxes in the US, and intrusive law after intrusive law after intrusive law, I'll opt for Belize any day of the week.  I will not throw charts and stats at you.  I will speak from direct experience, the the experience is, if the USA will leave Belize alone (which it tends to screw with every country on the planegt) then Belize is my preference, as long as the people of Belize are willing to keep the government corrupt, as has become the case in the USA.  If the people ever drop the ball on that one, I'm out of here.

You do realize don't you that American Airlines is referred to as belize emergency room. [Moderated]

You do realize that I have visited the emergency room here in Corozal and was treated professionally and affordable.
Don't care about American Airlines.

Hi everybody,

Can we please calm down here and try to focus on the initial topic that mbarlow has created?
It is best that we avoid going off topic as well.

Thank you,

Priscilla 

At the end of the day, each of us will make a choice based on PE (personal experiences) or OPE (other people's experiences). This is a forum to share experiences, good, bad or ugly and as adults we can choose to incorporate those experiences into our decision making process or ignore them.

We are here to have friendly discussions. I really don't want to see this forum go the way other forums have gone.

I'll not post in here any further.  It got way too political for my comfort zone.

I  agree MBarlow

I too have stopped posting here do to a few who seem to be mean spirited and negative. Mbarlow, perhaps you could start another thread as I find you information helpful. I voiced a complaint in an effort to have them removed however it appears some are still hanging on.

Happy 2016 in Belize!!

Quick note:
Thank you, Southernsis and Renegadediver.
It has always been my intention to be helpful and true to my own experience.
I have not had then intention to insult or hurt anyone.
'Bye all.    Happy posting.

i joined this forum so I could get help from other people. this is sad and really uncalled for. @mbarlow, sorry you decide to leave. but I understand

Hello everyone,

Since some members have pointed out that this thread is very informative and helpful, we have cleaned up the thread, removed some off-topics, moderated some irrelevant content and re-opened it.

So that this thread remains neat, please report any post that you consider an infringement to the BELIZE FORUM CODE OF CONDUCT so that we may intervene faster.

All the very best
Bhavna

Hahahaha!  Reviewing my post about why I am here, I need to make a correction.  Please eliminate the last two sentences on my post from your mind.  I don't know what in the world I was trying to say!  "As long as the people of Belize are willing to keep their government corrupt,"  WHAT, MARCIA?
(Says me to myself)  What were you trying to say????  Hahahahahaha!!!

We have property on Ambergris Caye and recently retired.  We travel back and forth to our home on Texas to visit grandkids, and rent our place out while we are gone.
We enjoy the island, have met. Some wonderful people, both locals and expats.  We are aware of crime on the island, but we are comfortable walking into town, walking the beaches and enjoying all the island has to offer.   We use common sense, just as we would in any neighborhood and have yet to have a problem.
We treat everyone with respect, from the taxi drivers, to store clerks and house keepers, and understand we are in their country and respect their values.

Good luck getting American Airlines to rescue you after a major medical event. They won't let you on board. If you have the funds or your insurance will cover it, a private company like MedJets would be your only recourse. You can buy insurance for medical evacuation from MedJets for about $300/year for a family. Well worth it in my experience. I was evacuated from Belize by them and they are really excellent. Of ourse, the need for medical evacuation is a whole other subject one needs to consider when thinking about anywhere with inadequate medical facilities and personnel. Inadequate, that is, for major medical events.

I had experience with the Canadian medical evacuation.  It was outrageously expensive, but less expensive than the US evacuation service.  The US evacuation was $125,000, where the Canadian was $40,000.  Very expensive, right?  The Canadian evacuation service was prompt, professional.  It had oxygen and suction, and a male nurse all ready to go.  We had no little bags of snacks as does the commercial airline, but a full lunch of drinks, salads, and sandwiches.There was me with my husband, and one other passenger returning for the removal of a tumor on his back and a diagnosis concerning his stomach.  He was diagnosed with cancer at the VA.
The trip was much speedier than the commercial airlines, but as you can see, much more expensive.  We all evacuated from Panama.  I imagine a medi-vac from Belize would be far less, but probably expensive as well..more than the $300 you speak of for the insurance.  Likely we would evacuate to Florida.  My evacuation was for my husband, and we flew to Portland, Oregon, where family is located.  My husband passed away 2 weeks later.  He is missed.

maybe look up the word hyperbole, thought that was obvious.

I'm surprised that there is not a designated area for medical issues on this site. There is one for medical insurance but what do people do for medical care. In my experience, there is very little of it available suitable for a major medical event such as I had in Belize.

I relate my experience here, not as anything critical of Belize, but so that others may benefit and think about the subject before they need any help. I love Belize and its people, the sweetest I have ever encountered, anywhere.

I read about many people who are retired and want to move to Belize, but what do they intend to do in the event of a major medical issue? People who are already retired there, what have you done or what would you do? Please post your thoughts and experiences.

I must confess that the subject never crossed my mind until it happened, and I was totally unprepared.

We had bought a beach house on Ambergris Caye, about three miles from town and the nearest doctor and clinic. I had to be transported on a plank, on the floor of a minivan taxi. The roads were incredibly rough and slow due to the rains. I was carried, on my plank, into the clinic by passers by and the taxi driver. Everyone was very kind and more than willing to help. The doctor had only one dose of a suitable medication, an anti-coagulant. $1000.00 on the Amex card. He recommended that I be transported to a (the) hospital in Belize City. The taxi, which had been paid to wait, took me to the San Pedro airport, where a private flight was negotiated. The arrangements were very quickly handled. I was transported, still on the plank, on the floor of the plane with the seats removed. There was a 1960's era US ambulance waiting for me in Belize City. Pure luxury at that point about two hours after a heart attack and two hours on the plank. The hospital in Belize City admitted me after charging the Amex card about $20,000.00US. The doctor and his staff took very good care of me and were very kind. He admitted that their medical technology is about twenty years behind the US where he goes for seminars etc. There is no cath-lab in Belize so he suggested that my wife call MedJets to have me evacuated to the US.

MedJets is a 'one call does it all' operation. I mean that literally. They took over everything from that point onwards. They had my charts, vitals etc. faxed to them from Belize and forwarded it all to the doctor and hospital in the US who they had researched would be best and closest for me. I live in California but ended up being transported to San Antonio Texas because it was the best hospital, Methodist Heart Hospital, and doctor and the closest to Belize. California would have added a couple of hours to the journey and my condition made the choice inevitable. They would have taken me home in other circumstances.

MedJets landed as soon as it was light enough. There are (were) no runway lights in Belize. There were two flight crew, who handled all the paperwork involved with customs and immigration. The customs officer came to the plane. Additionally there was a paramedic and a flight nurse who came to the hospital with their gurney covered in instrumentation and medications. They handled all the discharge paperwork and transmitted all data to the doctor in Texas. That continued throughout the flight. The doctor and hospital in Texas were completely prepared for me when I landed and I was treated in a state of the art cath-lab immediately after a quick examination and conversation.

The MedJets bill was about $20,000.00 (isn't everything?) but was paid by my insurance. They have their own insurance which I now buy for about $300/year. It includes my wife and would include dependent children under a certain age. Well worth it in my opinion. I no longer travel without it.

You may have medical insurance in Belize but where will you go for help after a major medical event, and how will you get there? I suppose the same questions would apply equally well to places like Panama.

I hope this is helpful to others, stimulates some thought in those who have not done so and continues the discussion. Again, it is not my intention to criticize Belize. I would be there now if it were not for my medical condition.

I offer my sincere condolences to mbarlow on the loss of her husband.

Where was the hyperbole, Katzgar?

Wish I had known about Medjets beforehand, and the insurance.  Husband was in Regeonal Hospital in David, Panama with pneumonia.  His condition declined, so I decided on a 'hail Mary' and did a net search on medical evacuation services.  They had an 'empty leg' coming back from South America, so I got the reduced rate of $40,000.  (Yikes!)  The American group wouldn't even take him.  The Canadian fellow was really kind.
I didn't know what else to do except to go to Portland.  I really wish I hadn't done that, but it's too late now.  I had had 2 strokes, both of which hit my eyes, and an ear infection in both ears.  The stress was insane!  All I could think about was getting husband somewhere where he'd have a fighting chance.  That chance was not to be Portland as one week after his admission the Brit doctor said he had to go into hospice.  So that was $14,000 for Hospital Regeonal, $40,000 for the Canadian evacuation, $10,000 for the US hospital (Legacy) for 2 weeks, I don't remember what hospice was, but it was high.  Our home is 35 miles from Legacy, and I couldn't drive it to be with my husband, I had to depend on the kindness of others.  I couldn't see to drive.  While a was down getting a new battery for my car, I got a phone call that the hospital decided to send him over to the Hopewell Hospice.  There was no notice, only "We're doing this NOW."  Oh my gosh, this memory is so painful!  By the time I could locate Hopewell and get a driver, he had passed.  When my head cleared and the dizziness subsided, I learned it would have been b  better if I had sent him to Texas's VA, but my brain was not hitting on all 6.  Fast forward 5 years later.  This whole experience still brings tears to my eyes.  We were married for nearly 50 years.  The house is empty without him.
I settled in Belize after his passing as it is just too hard to live in Panama with limited   language skills and difficulty getting around with limited eyesight.  I'm good with Belize.  At least I can communicate with people there.
I have 2 friends in Panama trying to get back to Florida.  Panama won't allow them to leave as they owe $15,000 in medical bills and have no way to pay it.  Their international insurance, 'HiMark' will not pay the bill, so there they sit.  Her husband is stuck there with a broken hip and they do what they can with their social security check.  If I can ever repair enough to fly back there, I can be helpful, somewhat.They only need to fly to Florida.  Uh oh.  I've gone on far too long.  I'm sorry.

Sad story! Thanks for sharing. I hope it gives some pause to others who may think they are moving to paradise with no problems. Belize was the best of all the options we considered. We even thought that if the worst came to the worst we could drive to Belize or back to the US.

Life can sometimes be like doing battle, problems can come out of nowhere

All the best to you and your life in Belize.

the comment about american airlines

might be good to call medjets and ask them to recommend the insurance they see as good.

Katzgar, you don't seem to be 'getting it'. MedJets is also an insurance provider. Why don't you go to their web site and read all about it. Do you know how to find a web site? ***

Hi everybody,

Please calm down.
Can we please stop fighting and try to contribute useful information on the forum?

Thank you,

Priscilla 

Medjet only seems to be for people who's home country is USA, Canada or Mexico. It is not medical insurance.
It seems that Belize is often seen through rose coloured glasses. Healthcare is a major issue, especially as we all get older. Before moving to somewhere like Belize everyone should either have appropriate insurance (medical and evacuation) or a workable plan to get out if the need arises.