🇪🇸 My Heart Stopped. The Cost of Saving It? Zero.

This is not a hypothetical. This is my reality, living in Málaga, Spain.

For years, doctors in Houston and Miami recommended a pacemaker for my ventricular tachycardia. I postponed it, feeling great and even walking the 800-km Camino de Santiago at 71.

Then, on New Year's Day 2025, my heart stopped. I was saved only by the accidental impact of hitting the floor. Days later, tests confirmed the urgency: surgery was inevitable.

The entire cost of the pacemaker surgery and one-night hospital stay at a private hospital in Estepona? Covered. My private premium is just €73 per month (approx. $80 USD). As a legal resident, the public option would have been free of charge under Spain's universal health care (SNS).

The Data That Validates My Decision

This experience perfectly illustrates the financial chasm between retiring in the US and Spain. For US retirees relying on Medicare, a major cardiac procedure still comes with high risk and high cost:

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‍The Hidden Cost: Even with the best US coverage (Medigap), a couple pays $6,000–$10,000+ annually in premiums just to gain that low copay protection. In Spain, for a low private premium (or the public buy-in fee of $\approx$€157/month for those 65+), a catastrophic emergency costs literally nothing at the point of care.

The Bottom Line: My pacemaker surgery cost me zero, securing my future for a fraction of the cost I paid annually for basic coverage in the US. The difference between medical security and medical bankruptcy is often a flight across the Atlantic.

#RetirementPlanning #ExpatLife #Healthcare #FinancialFreedom #Spain

For those in wealth management or financial planning: Are you incorporating the global cost of healthcare risk into your retirement models?

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