#1019 – The Expat Files: Health Insurance, Food Imports, and Internet in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Alright back on the saddle again now on the last show I mentioned I might not be doing a live show today being that it's New Year's weekend and all but things change and here I am so how about we start a little boots-on-the-ground story yesterday. I went to go pay my health care insurance for the year

[00:47] That's what I do. You know I pay the insurance yearly cuz then I get a 20% discount and you know I'm one of those guys who rarely uses anything but cash Only when I'm forced to use a credit card like when you have to buy something on the Internet That's pretty much the only time when plastic comes into play in my life Besides using plastic to pull money out of an ATM machine even when I check into a hotel I try to give him a cash deposit most will take cash believe it or not 100 or 200 bucks put it in an envelope stick it in the cash register And when you leave they give you the envelope back that's happened to me countless times But you have to mention it when they ask for your credit card. They're not gonna offer it up anyway coincidentally my health insurance policy Just happens to renew or expire if you don't pay it every year in early January

[01:34] by the way with most plans if you pay up the whole year you get a 10 or 20 percent discount if you Pay half the year you get a 5 or 10 percent discount depending on the policy or you can pay it monthly like 99.9 percent of Latinos do because they don't have the upfront cash to pay for a year or half year Which is why insurance companies here offer such a nice discount if you pay cash because almost no one does and they really would like You to why well because as one Latino insurance broker told me Latinos are not prompt payers ask any landlord That means companies are forever sending out notices emails and text messages saying if you don't pay by so-and-so date We're gonna cut you off the insurance policy You wouldn't believe how many people wait till the very last week our or even minute to finally cough up the dough in fact the insurance

[02:22] Broker told me that companies have whole departments and call centers devoted to prompting even haranguing people and to keeping up with their payments They're always trying to get you to sign up for the monthly withdrawal of that fee from your bank account Then they absolutely know they're gonna get the dough Even so a lot of Latinos bank accounts are tapped out and there's not even enough to cover a monthly payment Because you know as he said, there are so many people that end up going to the hospital having an accident Whatever they whip out their insurance card and the lady at the payment desk gives them the bad news that the policy has lapsed You can't believe how common that is and then the ostensibly Insured party will act surprised and dumbfounded even insulted saying things, you know, like that can't be right It must be a clerical error. I sent the check last month. Hey, I've seen that scene play out a couple of times already

[03:12] It's always amusing and a little unsettling to watch it play out while you're sitting at the doctor's office in the waiting room You know where the guy or gal in front of you has to deal with the fact that his insurance has lapsed Believe me, you don't want to be that guy, especially when medical insurance here in Latin America is so damn cheap There's just no excuse not to keep up with the payments and as for me, I like to keep things simple and uncomplicated So I pay a year at a time besides that I absolutely hate the mechanism where you could get automatic payment withdrawals monthly I just don't want to put my dad's or information online or have any bank or payment outfit having access to my dad's either That's why as for me more than 95% of my transactions are in cash So anyway yesterday I drove to the big insurance office where it naturally there was a guy at the door with one of those

[04:00] Temperature pistols and when he pointed it at me, I took my finger and pointed it at his face like a gun You know how you can simulate a gun with your hand and fingers and usually they just kind of chuckle and smile because they don't Know what else to do you ought to try it sometime. It really reinforces the idiocy of it all my advice next time Someone points one of those thermal pistols at you give it right back to him with your simulated hand gesture gun And you know since I've been doing that for a couple of months now Anyway, it kind of turns the whole situation around Instead of you being on the receiving end and the guy with the pistol pulling an authoritarian power move You've kind of made him look foolish and better yet. There's usually people around him when they see what you did They usually chuckle and give you the thumbs up Oh, and these guys are always carrying a bottle of that liquid snot goop and when they shove that in my personal space

[04:50] I'll almost always say no. Thanks. No gracias. I have enough of my own snot Thank you dango mis propios mokos gracias by the way the Spanish word for snot moko MOCO or mokos. Oh and here's the best part probably the part you've been waiting for my yearly health insurance premium $800 nope not $800 a month $800 a year if I paid by the month it had been a grand but remember I got 20% off Oh, and did I tell you it's got a two hundred and fifty dollar yearly deductible What's yours by the way the health insurance company? I'm with has something like five plans You know, you've got basic good better best and deluxe. I'm not on the premium or platinum plan. That's plan number five

[05:36] I'm on the one below that the gold plan one level from the top plan number four the difference being the premium plan has Worldwide coverage. I'm on the plan that covers me throughout Latin America the difference in price now I'm a single on that plan It's $800 from my plan and if I had the absolute maximum platinum plan would cost me around 12 to $1,400 a year and the only thing I would gain is worldwide coverage and one more thing with the plan I'm on if I go see a doctor or specialist it cost me 25 bucks out of my pocket And if I was to have the platinum plan, you know twelve or thirteen hundred dollars a year I'd have no out-of-pocket cost for office calls So that's the basic difference between having the platinum plan and the one right under it the gold plan

[06:23] Oh, and it's an 80 20 plan too. So I paid 20% of hospital and lab But if I go to their registered hospitals clinics and labs, it's 90 10 I only pay 10% and as for the other three plans the cheaper plans I mean really what gringo in his right mind would want to downgrade his coverage when you could get a fantastic plan for 800 bucks a year. Oh and for your information very basic raw plan with his companies around 300 bucks a year And this is important. It's one of those plans where the cutoff age is 64 So if you're 65 you're SOL you can't get on the policy But if you're younger than that and you get on the plan you got full coverage till age 99 I know you're thinking then what well, I guess when you hit 100 you're on your own and they throw your wheelchair under the bus I don't know. I'm not looking that far ahead

[07:09] Oh and one more thing when I walked into that insurance office You take a number and you look up at a TV screen to see when they're gonna call you to the payment or service window Well while sitting there waiting, I noticed there wasn't a single indigenous person or ragtag kind of low income person there at all In other words, it was the upper five or ten percent of latinos Did I mention surprise surprise? I was the only gringo in the place and the parking lot was full of pretty nice cars and no one there Believe me. No one was what you might consider poor or lower middle class Which once again proves the fact that only people have ways and means by private health insurance in latin america And the rest the other 80 to 90 percent of the population are covered by their absolutely horrific national health care plans

[07:55] Though it is true down here in latin america if you happen to work on the books at a fairly decent sized company Or even mcdonald's burger king taco bell or starbuck your employer will provide some kind of basic private Health care insurance has a benefit and it'll almost always be the basic plan I had mentioned earlier But still no matter how basic it is It's still a thousand percent better than having to rely on the pathetic but free national health care plan Hey, you get what you pay for that includes this show All right changing gears And now from the useless and idiotic redundancy department Well, there's something you'll notice right away if you're shopping at a latin american supermarket or tienda Suppose you picked up a jar of peanut butter Let's say you're in a big box store like costco where most stuff is important and that jar of peanut butter is

[08:45] Planters a well-known brand and now you want to know exactly what's in that stuff So you check out the label suddenly you realize there's two ingredient labels on it the original one from the manufacturer in english And kind of a crooked makeshift slap dash label. That's been stuck on listing all the ingredients in spanish So you're thinking well, that's okay because I guess people who don't speak english latinos who are in the store They have to know what kind of ingredients there are in the thing, right? Well, not really. It's sort of pointless You know in all the years i've been down here i've never ever seen a latino read a label. I mean hell 99% of gringos in first world people don't read labels Which makes you wonder why would someone go through their trouble of printing a label in spanish and sticking it on Every jar package and can in the entire supermarket besides the fact that no one reads labels down here

[09:36] Secondly any locals who produce a product for sale, let's say honey candy sweets or baked goods By the way, you'll see a lot of that locally produced homemade stuff when you go into a corner store You know selling homemade stuff locally is big business down here Though you'll almost never see a label that formally lists the ingredients a lot of local edible mystery products down here As for me I tend to avoid that stuff Picture latin america, especially in the small towns and out in the boonies as a giant co-op or your grandma's or a church bake sale Though I understand in the states now you got to get permits for everything. You can't even have a freaking lemonade stand I mean really isn't that reason? 2476 why it's time to get the hell out of dodge, but I digress as usual

[10:23] So anyway, you got this big double standard here in latin america. Well, there's lots of double standards But this one's about labeling food Of course, if you're a big food producer or processor producing milk cheese cereals packaged goods Whatever that are going into the big supermarkets, they'll have decent food ingredient labels on them But here's the thing and it's important to remember if you as a gringo or expat want to sell a particular Let's say boutique food item within the latin american country. You're living it You won't have to go through any kind of government regulation process You won't have to get the items analyzed in a lab for content And apply for all kinds of idiotic and redundant permits now, of course, if you're going to export stuff That's a different thing then you're at the mercy of the country you're exporting to but here's the thing

[11:10] Some years back latin american governments inadvertently stumbled upon another cash cow. They realized there was a big demand for imported food products More and more every year because latinos love everything first world And there's more and more gringos piling in usually brand name stuff that can't be made here in latin america Or just wasn't practical to do so like for example planters peanut butter Planters is not going to come down to nicaragua and open up a plant because there's just not the demand Oh, you can find that stuff All right in any medium and large sized latin city any city that has a walmart or costco the biggest single employer in latin america is Walmart there are thousands of them down here So as it turns out latin governments in the interest of gouging food importers

[11:56] They all decided some years back that in order for you to import and sell A jar of planters peanut butter a sample of that peanut butter had to go first to that government's certified Chemical laboratory and get a complete assay to determine the ingredients that you see Already printed on the label. So for example, you look at a peanut butter label It'll say contains peanuts peanut oil salt and unfortunately if it's not labeled completely natural peanut butter It'll have sugar probably high fructose corn syrup Soybean oil there's palm oil in it, which is terrible for you and disgusting But that's the way things are because people don't like a coating of peanut oil floating on the top of the jar The kind of separation you get with real natural peanut butter

[12:41] And then of course, you've got the preservatives and additives and emulsifiers bottom line latin american government's force imported food product companies To have all their products analyzed in a latin old laboratory in that country to make sure the ingredients are as listed now as stupid Repetitive and idiotic as that sound it's not at all about demonstrating. What's in this stuff and producing a label in spanish It's about food companies exporting their stuff and forking over dough to a corrupt large government To repeat a process that's already been completely vetted up in the states Or they wouldn't be able to sell that stuff in supermarkets in Milwaukee, cleveland and new jersey It's just a money making scheme for lard ass latin american governments Of course the u.s government more than qualifies in that respect too, but you knew that already now, of course going through that process

[13:30] Automatically increases the cost of any imported item to a latin american country those costs are passed on to the consumer It's one of the reasons why imported products are so much more expensive than the local ones For example locally produced peanut butter four bucks and the planters peanut butter same size five or six bucks Is it any better tasting or better for you? No, certainly with all those additives and sugar It's actually bad for you Now, of course We know all governments are on an eternal quest to extract more and more money out of the masses and this double analysis Double labeling thing is a perfect example of this because the obvious best most efficient and cheapest solution to Sell a food product that's been imported would be just to request the lab analysis done up in the states

[14:17] And just translate that analysis into spanish then just print out that ingredient label and stick it on the jar A lot of people don't speak english and you'll need that label in spanish Just in case one in six million latinos might want to read it But no by law there has to be a 100 percent redundant process Verifying every ingredient on the label or the latin government won't give you a sanitation permit to sell your stuff there Meanwhile as mentioned before across the street from that supermarket You've got maybe six or seven mom and pop tiendas selling dozens of varieties of homemade stuff baked goods Honey candy snacks, you name it with no lab analysis or sanitary certification process at all. So what do you make of that? Hmm, can you say montazuma's revenge? So here's the conundrum latin americans love everything there is about the first world

[15:07] They adopt and copy everything too always with a little lag time that's to be expected But somehow they won't accept a complete chemical analysis of a food product done in a certified lab up in the states Why because it's all about the money all about the gouge and governments only governments can get away with that Enough said about that way too much said about that which brings us to an email This one's from dave man. Do daves like to listen to this show? Anyway, he says good morning, johnny When you get a chance, can you please touch on the subject of internet services in latin america? The availability upload download speed and prices etc. As always the very best dave All right, dave, you know That's one of the questions I get asked most often because as we all know people live breathe work and die

[15:56] On the internet these days. So if they don't have a nice solid fast connection They're in a world of hurt and naturally most gonna bees and wannabes who've probably never been down to latin america Think of it as a kind of backwoods old-fashioned kind of place where technology is just not up to snuff Well dave i'll tell you the only places in latin america that technology is not up to snuff not up to first world standards is cuba Venezuela and certain places way out in the boonies where you rarely see neither man nor beast So what it boils down to is this aside from those previously mentioned socialist nightmare countries In whatever latin american country you choose to live in you'll have two three even four Large usually transnational internet providers to choose from some of the big ones are mobi star tigo claro telephonica

[16:46] Viva and a handful of others and as for the best or cheapest or fastest service to use don't ask another gringo ask your lawyer Or a latino businessman or a businesswoman that you know, and as far as cost and speeds Well again, you get what you pay for they've got very high speed internet down here Just like you have up in the states And if you want the real high performance internet, you know The one you have at your laptop at home and you pay extra for through the internet provider You could be looking at a hundred bucks a month whereas pretty much throughout latin america your average internet speed that would be download speed On your cell phone not your laptop at home talking about your cell phone. Now. It's around 10 megabits per second Now, of course, most people don't do business on their cell phones Maybe partially so but they've got a laptop set up at home or in their office

[17:31] Whatever and they contact a big internet provider like clado for example And they buy a 20 30 40 even 50 megabit per second plan With some plans up to a hundred megabits per second In fact claro in guatemala has a hundred megabit per second plan for around a hundred bucks a month Of course, you're not going to get that with your cell phone only at your house or business Now as far as central america and for all you guys and gals who are going to relocate to guatemala or parts nearby My seminar logistics lady rita knows all about those internet plans So if you need some precise detailed information, just contact her Fact if you come on down to guatemala she'll hand hold you through it Take it down to claro tigo mobi star, whatever and get you set up by the way That's one of the big benefits of coming down to the expat insider seminar

[18:18] You get to meet my group my network and from then on there'll be your friends and contacts and available to answer your questions And believe me you'll have questions And again, it depends on where you live what service you want to select for example as for guatemala again If you're in guatemala city and tigua or lake atelan, you might want to select claro But if you're out in the boonies, you might want to select tigo Why because it's got more cell tower coverage out in the boonies and claro's got more cell tower coverage in the cities Again, if you're thinking about guatemala or parts nearby jake with rita. She's the answer lady Well, here's a little boots on the ground example. I think you'll like now you long time listeners have heard me talk about bitcoin Dan he came down to one of my very first expat insider seminars nine years ago. I think now Well, he came down with his new wife and never left. He set up shop and started a business

[19:06] He's even got two kids now born in guatemala and the interesting part Well, listen to this bitcoin dan operates his internet business out of his house in a gated garden community He's got an extremely successful internet business. You'll hear more about it if you come to the seminar It's so popular worldwide that he's got three million customers And like I said, he works out of a little office in his house operating his business entirely from there Here's the kicker. He services three million customers Through his basic household internet plan from claro and believe me a guy like dan with three million clients needs to have his internet Rock solid and fast So for all you guys and gals out there who are thinking well It might be difficult to start a business in honduras guatemala panama, whatever

[19:54] Because i'm not so sure about the quality or reliability the internet Think about that for a second dan has been running that business ever since he moved into that house At least seven years ago now and he never had to buy anything more than the plans offered through claro for regular home service He didn't have to have something special or custom installed. He didn't have to have a dedicated fiber optic line None of that So think about that if you've got any doubts about running a business once you get down here to lat america And having to depend on good solid internet service Oh and for those of you coming down to my expat insider seminar You'll meet dan captain mango oscar miner and our cast of characters They'll be hanging with us and they'll be talking at the seminar too about their specialties

[20:40] So if you do have any questions about the internet or anything else You'll be able to meet those people and get to know them personally have lunch and dinner and hang with them a bit You'll have plenty of time to fire any and all questions at them All right, speaking of expats and gringos doing business here in latin america comes this email from anthony in washington d.c Hmm washington d.c. The viper's nest By the way, our good friend expat itty has always had this pipe dream He's brought it up to me a number of times He brings up the fact that the easiest and cleanest in simplest way To completely reverse the terrible course that the us is on It's for the president to call a mandatory Emergency session of congress and then someone walks in and accidentally sets off a small nuclear device Now that eddie says and I agree with him would certainly eliminate

[21:29] 454 the world's worst swamp creatures wouldn't it? Oh and let's not forget to invite the bushes who vomits the clintons and all the federal reserve chairman to that party Now, of course that'll never happen But you can always daydream then again, there's a law against practically everything I mean just look at that book three felonies a day. So as far as outlawing wishful thinking and daydreaming I'm sure they're working on it Hey, imagine a hollywood movie with that plot in our hero, whether it be dan xale, liam nissan Arnie whoever imagine he screws up and doesn't disarm the bomb on time You know these days most people would call that a happy ending, but I digress again. Sorry about that Anyway, anthony from dc writes i'm new to your podcast. Johnny loving them so far

[22:14] I'm starting the expat files shows from the beginning and i'm on april of 2011 so far I recognize that some of what you said way back when may be out of date now But of course much of it isn't I find all of your podcasts entertaining and informative. Here's my question Wouldn't latin americans take hostile views towards expats starting competing businesses in their own towns? On your april 6th podcast of 2011 when expats go into business part one You advise that it's often better for expats to find business opportunities by walking around towns off the tourist trails And checking out some of the existing businesses instead of those cliched Hospitality businesses expats often start in tourist towns Of course the quality of these local businesses that you're purveying are often poor

[23:05] So that means there are strong opportunities for expats to bring their first world knowledge and experience This sounds tempting, but I would think the locals wouldn't take too kindly to some gringo inevitably putting them out of business When said gringo launches his competing business that's going to be of better quality right next door or across the street And johnny since i'm still in april 2011 if you've already answered that question in a future podcast Just let me know where it is and i'll check it out Happy holidays anthony. All right anthony. Thanks for that. Good question. Matter of fact anthony I know of dozens if not hundreds of expats who created businesses down here based on that very formula They see a business that has clients and is making money yet by first world standard. It's a joke

[23:51] It's less than second rate and the first thing you're thinking is if I was in that business I'd certainly do this or i'd change that you're thinking man. He's doing it all wrong What an idiot because we're looking at the details We instantly spot the raw edges because when we compete with each other up in the states You better be tip-topping on your toes or you're going to crash and burn That's the environment we were all brought up in even if we don't have a business We're exposed to so much competition in so many good businesses We know us gringos and expats that is instinctively what works and what doesn't work and what customers really want now Of course, if you build a better mousetrap your competition is not gonna like that you moved in down the block However, in all the years i've been down here more than 30 now I've never seen a latino competitor enact any kind of vengeance or sabotage nor have I ever heard any rumors of that

[24:42] I guess you know if your second or third rate latino competition Just is not into the details and that's why he's second third rate He's not going to be very good at enacting any kind of retribution either Not that he would because normally when a gringo or expat does build the better mousetrap He doesn't put the competitors out of business. They still exist and chug along It's just that you become number one in the existing marketplace. Now. Let me backtrack a bit I do know of a few cases of sabotage where gringo businesses have been damaged But not for the reasons you think it's almost always and this is crazy due to some kind of romantic Jealousy going on within the business because you know through rumors and by listening to the show that latinos and latinos are extremely

[25:27] Jealous, you know how a bottle of hot peppers sometimes has a temperature gauge on it Well, if human cultures had a temperature gauge for jealousy gringos and expats would be in the green cool side and latin americans would pin The gauge so yes i've heard of and know of cases Where a jealous husband or boyfriend has sabotaged a gringo's business Because he thought his wife or girlfriend was having an affair with the gringo owner or operator And most often it's not the case at all. Most gringos and expats are smarter than that They don't go dipping their pen in the company ink so to speak That's way too risky especially in latin america where tempers really flare and can often get violent when it comes to jealousy So let this be a warning to you guys Especially if a latina worker warms up to you just a bit too much

[26:15] You better find out if she's got a husband boyfriend or ex because even if she flirts with you and you don't reciprocate at all You could be in for trouble now you longtime listeners Remember me telling the story of a friend of mine who in antigua guadamala had a very nice custom pillow and bedspread factory With about a dozen or so young employees latinas and indigenous ladies making beautiful bedspreads linens and pillows and rugs and one day the jealous Boyfriend of one of those young ladies burnt his place down torched it they even got him on camera doing it Why because he thought his girlfriend was having an affair with the gringo owner? Actually, he was a european a german guy practically a gringo You know the kicker was he was totally clueless of the storm that was brewing behind his back

[27:03] He never put a move on her nor did he reciprocate treated her nice like he did everyone else But she obviously told someone or telegraphed to someone the wrong message The boyfriend surely caught on and went a little nuts one night got drunk went over and torched the place So anyway, especially you expat gringo guys. Keep that in mind if you're hiring local latinas Oh, and i've got a couple of other stories like that involving gringo businessmen Just remind me i'll lay another wild story like that on you next week You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america

[27:50] Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com nos vemos