While I have lived in Panama for the past 22 years I have never used the public hospital. However last week i got a serious cut in my head. It was around midnight so I went to the public hospital in Volcan. They ended up putting in 5 stitches. They were pretty efficient about it so in a very short time I went home with five stitches. They wrote down the number of my cedula and gave me a slip of paper to return the following week to have the stitches removed. Today I returned to the hospital with the slip of paper. They asked me how many stitches I had received and then gave me a bill. They charged 30 cents for each stitch plus 25 cents for the visit for a total of $1.75. After I paid the $1.75 they gave me a receipt which I showed to the nurse and she removed the stitches. So I am wondering why would I need medical insurance if the hospital will put in 5 stitches for one dollar and 75 cents? I do have Medicare which they take out of my social security every month but I have never used it and I am now 81 years old. To use it would involve a plane ticket and a lot of expense. I should probably cancel the Medicare so I can get a more social security every month. I haven't been back to the US for over ten years. Who knows maybe I will never go back.
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