Mamacita's Nursing Care

We recently posted on shipping mom & dad overseas to India for nursing care. It seems you don't have to go that far to get a deal.

How does mom feel about Mexico?

For $1,300 a month — a quarter of what an average nursing home costs in Oregon — Douglas gets a studio apartment, three meals a day, laundry and cleaning service, and 24-hour care from an attentive staff, many of whom speak English. She wakes up every morning next to a glimmering mountain lake, and the average annual high temperature is a toasty 79 degrees.

So the staff speaks English, huh. Guess that means the menu doesn't have pictures where the guests can point to the Value Meal for $3.95.

"It is paradise," says Douglas, 74. "If you need help living or coping, this is the place to be. I don't know that there is such a thing back (in the USA), and certainly not for this amount of money."

$1300 per month, that's $43 per day. About the price of a Motel 6 in the U.S.

"You can barely afford to live in the United States anymore," said Harry Kislevitz, 78, of New York City. A stroke victim, he moved to a convalescent home on the lake's shore two years ago and credits the staff with helping him recover his speech and ability to walk.

I haven't been to NYC in a while. Last time was probably 25 years ago. I do recall breakfast at the Sheraton was expensive. Seems like I had a glass of OJ ($4), one egg ($2.75) and "assorted" toast ($4).

Turns out assorted toast was one whole wheat slice, one rye.

Richard Slater has a good deal too.

He gets 24-hour nursing care and three meals a day, cooked in a homey kitchen and served in a sun-washed dining room. His cottage has a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, bathroom and a walk-in closet.

For this Slater pays $550 a month, less than one-tenth of the going rate back home in Las Vegas. For another $140 a year, he gets full medical coverage from the Mexican government, including all his medicine and insulin for diabetes

That's $140 per YEAR for health care, not per month.

I may have to look into this.