Do you have ambition to live or retire abroad?

Living in a border town, I know lots of people here WITH health insurance who still go to Tijuana for medical & dental services. Many places there accept our insurance and the cost most of the time without using insurance is still cheaper. Their facilities are nicer, the staff are nicer, etc. If you have Sentri, it's the way to go. I haven't done it because I am fortunate that I have really good insurance through my employer & my FSA is front loaded and has a higher balance than my annual deductible.

I have another friend who is an independent contractor and has an okay health plan but certainly nothing to write home about - went to Turkey over the summer to get a full workup and he had been having unexplained nose bleeds. They discovered he had a benign tumor in his nasal cavity and he got it removed. So airfare, hotel, full workup, CT scan, etc. All cheaper than he could have done it here WITH insurance.

If there's one thing I've gathered from the Luigi thread, this thread and the job satisfaction thread is that most Americans agree that our healthcare system is absolute trash and everyone is pissed off about it.