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Bob G

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  1. Some of the most popular El Matador products "They kill what needs killing." El Matador Mold Killer and Preventer -- for leather coats, shoes, caps, backs of rugs and carpets, backs of furniture, draperies, backs and bottoms of upholstered furniture, etc. One treatment, and mold does not return. Available in spray bottles (16 oz, and 24 oz, depending on availability) $7 and $10 NOTE: I now sell the 24 oz size in 32 ounce bottles because I can no longer get 24 ounce bottles. If you want a full 32 ounce bottle, the price is $13. El Matador Colloidal Silver, 10-15 PPM -- For internal or external use. Available in eight ounce bottles ($15), sixteen ounce bottles ($24) and quart bottles ($45) The USFDA will not allow medical claims about colloidal silver because it is untested, but they won't test it because it can't be patented. Go figure. Meanwhile, we know that it kills over 600 microorganisms---bacteria, viruses and fungi. Use for colds, flu, gastroenteritis (stomach flu), cuts, scrapes, fungal infections, etc. Two teaspoons daily will strengthen the immune system and prevent many infections. Useful for pets. El Matador Colloidal Silver, 40 - 60 PPM -- For external use and for treating book spines and selected other materials to kill and prevent mold and mildew. Available in eight ounce bottles ($20) and quart bottles ($60) or for delivery into your clean, suitable container. Sometimes this is a special order item. El Matador Ouch-Aid Colloidal Silver Gel --- Made with 40-60 PPM colloidal silver. For topical use on cuts, scrapes, insect bites and particularly burns, for which it is miraculous. Useful for pet cuts, scrapes, skin infections, etc. Available in 90 ml jars. ($10) El Matador Boron Supplement --- Prevents and treats arthritis and osteoporosis. Balances hormones for both men and women. Treats intestinal candida (yeast) infections. Treats pet yeast infections which are marked by skin eruptions and listless behavior. Quart bottle lasts two months for maintenance, one month for treatment. ($12) El Matador Pup Fresh --- Don't wash your dog too often. It's bad for the skin. Between baths, use El Matador Pup Fresh to keep a nice, pleasant odor and to repel ticks and fleas. NOTE: Not for cats. 24 ounce spray bottle (Lasts a long time) ($8) Nitenpyram Capsules --- Your dog or cat swallows a capsule, and fleas are dying within 30 minutes. FDA-approved. From vets or online, these cost $2 to $3 for each capsule. Available from El Matador for only $1 each. Most people buy ten or more, but it's your call. (These are for large animals. Snip in half for smaller dogs or for cats.) El Matador Ozone Treatment Service --- Kills mold, mold odors, cooking odors, cigarette smoke odors, etc. in your house, apartment or car. High output ozone generator for shock treatment. Typically three to six hours for treating residences, one to two hours for vehicles. Machine rents for $20 for 24 hours, during which you have time for house, car, casita, bodega, etc. Refundable $50 security deposit CONTACT Bob Gregory at usn11958@gmail.com for more information. Use a subject line of “El Matador.” I’ll send you a complete list of these and other products, plus guide sheets and manuals for using El Matador products. You may send me an email with questions or orders for products. Products can be picked up at my house in Alto Boquete, or I can deliver them on Tuesdays at the BCP Market. I usually have a selection of products in my car at the market on Tuesdays. Watch for me in my white tee shirt with the red El Matador logo. Bob Gregory E-mail: usn11958@gmail.com
  2. El Matador’s Mold and Odor Killer Service The name, El Matador means “the killer.” Every El Matador product is designed to kill something. It may be germs, mold, odors, arthritis, osteoporosis, candida infections, rust or other things. If you would like a list of El Matador products and some information, send an email to usn11958@gmail.com with the subject ”El Matador” This announcement is about a service to kill something and not about a product. Probably all of us have had the experience of noticing musty, moldy odors in the bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, storerooms, cabinets or other areas of our homes. Some homes and cars also have cigarette smoke odors, and others have dog or cat odors or strong kitchen odors. For any of these, and more, the answer is using El Matador Mold and Odor Killer Service. For preventing or killing mold on specific articles of clothing, shoes, furniture, area rugs, draperies, etc., it’s hard to beat El Matador Mold Killer in spray bottles. But for killing mold and its odors in whole rooms or whole houses, you need ozone that can permeate all the nooks and crannies of the house. There are some very nice (and rather expensive) ozone air freshening machines that can be kept in your home, running 24 hours per day. Back in the US I had one. But here we tend to leave windows and doors open most of the time, which allows the ozone to drift out of the house and not do its job. Also, you generally need a higher concentration of ozone to kill off mold infections. El Matador is offering for rent a commercial-grade ozone generator. It produces a lot of ozone to produce a “shock treatment” in your room, home or car. This is not the type of machine that you can just leave running in your home all the time. You need to place it in a central part of the area you wish to treat, open all closets, cabinets, drawers and cubby holes, close all the windows and outside doors, turn on ceiling fans or circulating fans and go away while the ozone is permeating your home. The time for mold treatment depends on the total area. It can also depend on the degree of mold growth you need to deal with. A rule of thumb is about thirty minutes to an hour for every 200 square feet or 20 square meters. The time for clearing cigarette smoke odors and other odors can usually be shorter, while heavier mold problems may take longer. Smaller cars need around one hour of treatment, while station wagons and SUV’s need around two hours. The ozone machine has a three-hour timer and a continuous “ON” switch. If you plan to go away while your home is treated for a number of hours, I can loan a timer for longer operation at no extra cost. After treatment, you need to allow thirty to forty minutes to air out the space. The Ozone is not dangerous, but breathing it at concentrated levels may irritate your nose or throat. Pets and house plants should be removed during treatment. The rental rate for the machine is $20.00 for 24 hours or fraction thereof. This allows plenty of time for a large house, plus a casita and a car or two. There is no extra charge if you need to borrow a timer. Both use normal 120 volt household electricity. There is a $50.00 refundable deposit, so payment at pickup is $70.00. If you find that you need to keep the machine for more than 24 hours, you can call me to say you need the extra time, and I can deduct the fee for the extra day from the deposit. The deposit or remaining balance is refunded at the time the machine is returned undamaged. . You may reserve the machine by calling me at 6745-2828 or, preferably, sending an email to usn11958@gmail.com. It can be picked up by arrangement at my house in Alto Boquete or on Tuesday mornings at the Tuesday Market with return to my house. Kill your odor problems with El Matador. Bob Gregory, the El Matador dude
  3. FINAL SHOT AT PICKING UP MED PLAN CARDS AT THE TUESDAY MARKET Again this Tuesday (February 6) I'll be at the market with Hospital Cooperativo Medical Discount Plan cards to deliver to people who recently renewed or enrolled in the plan. This will be the last distribution. Cards not picked up by that date (except some I am holding for people out of the country) will be left at the medical plan office in Hospital Cooperativo, where they can be picked up on any weekday during office hours. I'll be walking around at the Market with a sign around my neck that says "MED PLAN CARDS." IF YOU RENEWED YOUR PLAN, YOUR WALLET CARD IS STILL GOOD, BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE A NEW PAYMENT CARD THAT SHOWS YOU HAVE PAID FOR ANOTHER YEAR. I'll attend the meeting at 10:30 and make an announcement there about the cards. Most of the time before and after the meeting I'll try to hang out near the stairway to the parking lot. Please try to see me and pick up your cards. You need them, and I don't! Bob Gregory P.S. If yours is a new enrollment and not a renewal, it will be a good idea to make an initial appointment with a doctor of internal medicine to get acquainted, provide your medical history and establish a file. This way if you need urgent or emergency care later, there will already be some information on file. P.P.S. All future enrollments in the Hospital Cooperativo discount medical plan must be made at the hospital in the administrative office of the plan. In the near future a notice will be published with all details, along with directions to the hospital.
  4. I was contacted by Rodny Moreno regarding how to contact him. The number originally included in the news item above has been changed. Rodny now prefers that calls to him be on his personal phone. The Rodny Direct Helpline number will be provided after your enrollment is completed. Please read the entire notice again. Changed information is highlighted in yellow. The previous message has been removed. Bob =========================. If you are one of the 29 people who enrolled in the Hospital Cooperativo Medical Discount Plan in July or in October 2017, you paid for the plan through December 2018. You also made a donation to Alto al Crimen for the AAC bilingual emergency Hotline. The AAC Hotline service was discontinued at the end of December 2017, but Alto al Crimen has arranged for you to receive service from Rodny Direct (another hotline service) for the full year of 2018 for no charge. To enroll with Rodny Direct, you will need to go to the website http://www.rodnydirect.com/ and enroll in the service. If you need to contact Rodny with questions, you may call him at 6573-0141. After you have enrolled on the Rodny Direct web site you will be provided the Helpline number to used when calling for assistance. Rodny Moreno has been provided a list of all the people qualified for this year of service with his Emergency Helpline Service and will be able to verify that you are not subject to charge for the service. You will be covered for the full service, including police, fire and medical emergency calls, along with translation service for police stops and other occasions. Your visiting guests may also use the service while they're here. If you have a medical emergency and need to call for an ambulance, be sure to remind Rodny that you are a member of the Hospital Cooperativo medical plan. Thank you and all the generous donors who have contributed to Fundacion Alto al Crimen over the past years. And thanks to Rodny who worked for Alto al Crimen for about six years and to Franc Lugo who was our AAC Hotline operator for the past two plus years.
  5. Security at the old prison was tight. Both male and female visitors were patted down by guards of the same sex and had to remove their shoes for inspection. No cell phones,, guns, knives, cameras, etc. were allowed. Even key rings were checked for sharp items. All food and comfort items were inspected, including opening items like new, sealed jars of peanut butter and probing to the bottom of the jar with a fork. No fruits or canned items capable of being used to make alcohol were permitted. Yet there was home brew alcohol and a lot of cell phones Cell phones are smuggled in by crooked guards, and that could be how the firearms got in, though I doubt that there were many. There was a flourishing economy involving, toilet paper, personal care items, cell phones, cell phone chargers, etc. Wild Bill is one of the high rollers. I don't know, but it seems likely that the prison will still use a contractor for food service, and low bidders don't tend to concern themselves a lot with either quality or quantity
  6. I also meant to add some other comments and information. The new prison facility sounds like it will be a great improvement in many ways. The old one was just one major violation of human rights. I know of one cell there with dimensions of 22 feet by 22 feet which, until the tranfers began, held 57 prisoners who had no opportunity even to exit the cell for walking except possibly once per week if a visitor came. There was one toilet and one shower. By the way, the news stories said that 300 prisoners had been transferred at the time of the fire and 200 remained. However, the actual number of prisoners in the old prison was between 1,100 and 1,200.
  7. Keith: Your "too bad" comment about family complaints about the distance and cost involved for visiting the new prison is uninformed. Every week, family members cumulatively deliver hundreds of pounds of food, toothpaste, toilet tissue, clothing and other items not provided to prisoners by the prison. The quality and quantity of food provided by the company with the food service contract are abysmal. Without supplementation from things brought by friends or family members, prisoners are left in really bad circumstances.
  8. AAC/HOSPITAL COOPERATIVO MEDICAL DISCOUNT PLAN ONE DAY ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITY Boquete Hospice and Health is hosting the Boquete Health Fair on Sunday, October 22, and Alto al Crimen is pleased to have been asked to participate. We want to be able to give you information, but even better is the fact that we have decided to open enrollment for the Alto al Crimen / Hospital Cooperativo discount medical plan for this Sunday ONLY. What would make better sense for a Health Fair? The next scheduled open enrollment season will be from mid-December to mid-January. For those not familiar with the plan, Hospital Cooperativo in David offers a membership medical discount plan with discounts ranging from 20% to 50% on hospital procedures, hospital rooms, pharmacy, medical doctors’ fees, other health professionals’ fees and emergency room fees. All of the discounts are greater than the Panamanian law requires for jubilados, and they all apply to any members, whether or not eligible for the jubilado discount. A full description of the plan will be available at the Alto al Crimen table at the Health Fair in the Arco Iris building in the Boquete fairgrounds (feria). We will also have English translations of the contract available for review and maps showing the location of the hospital. Cost for the plan is $150 per year for the first member of a household and $125 per year for others in the same household. However, enrollments this Sunday will be for 14 months so that memberships will be up for renewal in January 2019. Fees will be $175 for first member and $150 for other members in the same household. Payments may be made by cash, local checks or US checks. ID card issuance will be delayed about three to four weeks for US checks. The fees include cost of the plan and a modest donation the Alto al Crimen, allowing you to register for the AAC Bilingual Emergency Hotline. There is a separate contract for each person enrolled, and each requires a copy of the person’s cedula (preferred) or residency card or passport. Please bring copies with you, and, if possible, also bring exact change if you will be paying cash. We’ll try to have some limited change, and if necessary will be able to do photo scans of identification, but things will go faster and smoother if you come prepared. If you missed signing up for good medical care for very low prices back in January or July, this will be your chance to become a member without waiting longer. ‘See you at the Health Fair!
  9. I have about twenty medical plan cards remaining to be delivered. I'll be at the BCP Market tomorrow (Tuesday, February 7) morning wearing my red tee shirt and hoping you will look for me and pick up your cards. (Remember, you need your card more than I do!) I'll bring a chair and try to find a place to park and post a sign that says "MED PLAN CARDS." Last week I was near the Hospice and Health blood pressure table under the white tent. Put the wallet size card in your wallet and keep the payment card in your home with your passport and other such papers. You won't need it until renewal time. Doctors, the pharmacy and other places at the hospital where charges are incurred will have a list of all AAC-related members who have paid by the year so that you can receive your discounts. The Boquete expat community has made a welcome impact on Hospital Cooperativo. We have put nearly $11,000 into their plan, and, in return, we are set to receive nice discounts on our medical services there. To be off to a good start, it would be a good idea to make an appointment with a doctor of internal medicine for a "get acquainted" visit and maybe put some of your medical records and medicine information in your file. Then, when you have a medical problem you won't be looking for a doctor for the first time. I have received some inquiries from people who procrastinated about signing up or who were away in the US when the open enrollment season ended. We are working to have a volunteer who will manage another open enrollment period around mid-year. Details have not been worked out, but we will probably pro-rate half a year and add to the next full year, which would be $225 for 18 months ($187.50 for additional members of the same household). The idea is to minimize the administrative load by having the maximum number of renewals due in December-January every year. If for some reason you do not pick up your card(s) this week, Please contact me to arrange come to my house or meet me somewhere mutually convenient. My phone number is 6745-2828 (WhatsApp works). My email address is rhgusn@yandex.com Bob Gregory
  10. In the upper Volcancito area around three years ago there was a rash of burglaries and at least one home invasion (a semi-inside job on which if did a follow-up for Alto al Crimen). A home owner in the area saw two men poking around a neighbor's house and called the police. they happened to be in the area because of the other incidents. When they arrived they captured one man and gave chase on foot after the other one. He ran to the edge of a canyon, lost his footing and fell. He was impaled on a tree and killed. I do not definitely know that those two men were the same ones who robbed gringos, but there was a pretty good likelihood. Statistics and inferences are sometimes the only way to analyze some things. Does it seem logical to assume that there are over 1,200 people in the David prison and that NONE of them committed a crime against a gringo? Is anyone willing to believe that the police just selectively don't bother to solve crimes involving gringos? That would be the other available theory. And does anyone think for a minute that police here or most places are politically correct enough to omit racial features or skin color in their bulletins? Our gardener is a nice man I respect him. We dine at the table together and have conversations. He's a Ngobe and proud of it. He looks like a Ngobe Sometimes, when I tell other people about him,, I say that he's a Ngobe or Indian. Even in 2017 there is nothing wrong with that. It is the truth. The tenant I mentioned was Black. He rented four different places from me over the years because he knew that I was fair and not racially prejudiced. He was a Vietnam vet who still had a bullet in him that had never been removed. I knew the various kinds of work he did He was a lot of things.. And every day of his life, along with a lot of other characteristics, he was Black. Here, we go to "Chino stores". The Chinos are Panamanians, along with Hispanics, Whites, Indigenous peoples, and Blacks. The Chinos are generally smart and hard-working. But the local people and many gringos call them the Chinos. Why? It's not derogatory. It's because they ARE It is an aid to description and communication, and there is nothing wrong about acknowledging it.
  11. I can provide some inferential evidence. The prison at the end of Calle F Sur has over 1,200 prisoners, all of whom must have been jailed for something. Since a high percentage of crimes in Chiriqui are property crimes, it would be logical to assume that a large portion of those prisoners were convicted of (or are awaiting trial for) property crimes and that some proportional share of them would be for crimes against gringos. The population of the area is possibly close to 200,000, and gringos probably number under 5,000. Moreover, as much as gringos are sensitive to crimes against gringos, the numbers of those crimes are probably disproportionately small compared with those against the majority population.. For another look at the situation, I can say that my experience with property crimes and their being solved in the US is not a lot difference than the experiences people have here.. I owned a good bit of rental property in Nashville, Tennessee, a city with a large and fairly well organized police department. I managed several other units for a good friend. In over thirty years there were quite a few burglaries in the units, more in lower income areas, but "bastante" in all of them. In all of that time, not one burglar was caught by the police for those crimes. In one case, we knew who had done a B&E crime on a Sunday evening (but the police were not interested in knowing). My tenant and his brother knew approximately where the guy lived, went there the next day and announced an offer of $15 for information that allowed them to find him. About 10:00 PM on Monday I received a call, saying, "We got him. What do you want us to do with him?" They brought him to my house. He was quivering because those two Black guys had scared him senseless, though they had not harmed him. I had him empty his pockets. He had a public defender's business card and also the card of a parole officer. He said he could get my stuff back, but it was apparent that the money someone had paid him for that stuff haf already been sniffed up his nose. I called the police and asked that he be arrested, and the cop was reluctant. He told the cop that he could gt my stuff back, and the cop believed him! I insisted on his arrest, and the cop took him in. I went to night court and swore out a warrant. The cop testified against him since his offer to retrieve my stuff was a confession, and he went to the slammer for three years when his parole was revoked And THAT was the only burglar I know of in thirty years who was caught and convicted of a property crime on my property or that of my friend. So when I hear of the low apprehension and conviction rates here, I have a way of putting them into perspective. *******
  12. Alto al Crimen and Hospital Cooperativo Mark Partnership in Medical Discount Plan Tom Counter, vice president and acting treasurer of Alto al Crimen presents a check for more than $6,000 to Dr. Luis Wong, Director of Hospital Cooperativo. On January 5, 2017 Alto al Crimen delivered to Hospital Cooperativo the first batch of contracts from local expats who have joined the Plan Solidario medical discount plan offered by the hospital. Under the Alto al Crimen implementation of the plan, residents join and make a single payment for one year, saving them and the hospital the inconvenience of monthly payments. Each member will be issued a wallet identification card for the plan (carnet). When presented, the card entitles the member to a range of discounts from 25% to 50% for various medical services, materials and prescription medicines. Hospital Cooperativo is unique in all of Panama and has been providing low-cost cooperative medical care in David for about thirty years. AAC is pleased to be able to facilitate memberships in a good plan in partnership with this fine member of the medical community. An open season for enrollment in the plan will continue until January 17 when final enrollments will be available after the Alto al Crimen Tuesday Meeting report to the community at BCP.
  13. Several people have requested a list of doctors and licensed professionals at Hospital Cooperativo in David. This is the hospital whose low-cost medical discount plan is being made available on an annual basis by Alto al Crimen. A description of the plan and an English translation of the contract may be found in an Alto al Crimen post above in this topic thread. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOCTORS AND LICENSED PROFESSIONALS AFFILIATED WITH HOSPITAL COOPERATIVO CARDIOLOGY Dr. Jose Rangel SURGERY Dr. Jose Isabel Gonzalez DERMATOLOGY Dr. Abel Espin Dra. Zulay Saldana PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION Dr. Eric Cabrera PHYSICAL THERAPY Lic. Fabian Martinez GYNECOLOGY Dr. Manual Heredia Dr. Marcos Achurra Dra. Ana Lio Becerra INTERNAL MEDICINE Dr. Caesar De Gracia Dr. Amilcar Hurtado Dr. Carlos Shellhorm Dr. Ruben Castillo NUTRITIONIST Licda. Lilia Franco ORTHOPEDIST Dr. Esteban Munoz OTOLARYNGOLOGIST Dra. Alma Pedroza PEDIATRICIAN Dr. Antonio Jones Dr. Manuel Thomas PSYCHOLOGIST Lic. Lourdes Serrano Lic. Fatima Pitti Lic. Luis Vallester Lic. Yarmein Flauzil Lic. Eanny Nunex REUMATOLOGIST Dr. Cesar Fraize UROLOGIST Dr. Reinaldo Ross Dra. O'brien Calls may be made to Hospital Cooperativo at 775-6666. The hospital operator may refer you to another number. Prices are lower than at other hospitals, and the discount plan makes them even lower. Final sign-ups for this year will be after the Alto al Crimen report to the community at the January 17 Tuesday meeting at BCP.
  14. Alto al Crimen will have a table at the Tuesday Market on tomorrow, January 3 for people to sign up for the AAC--Hospital Cooperativo medical discount plan. If you have not yet read the original announcement sent via Boquete.ning.com, you can find it on this site and read it. This low cost plan is great for people who have no other medical coverage and a great supplement for people with high deductible insurance coverage. A .pdf version of the PowerPoint presentation made on December 13 can be found at this link: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/4359-alto-al-crimen-medical-discount-plan-announcement/?do=findComment&comment=12309 The yearly fee for the plan is $150 (or $125 for additional members of the same household). This includes a donation for the AAC emergency call Hotline. To sign up, come to our table on Tuesday. Bring cash or your checkbook and, if possible, a copy of the cedula, Pensionado card or passport for each applicant. If for some reason you can't bring a copy, we'll figure out how to make a copy of your document. This will be the last sign-up day except for the final sign-up deadline on Tuesday, January 17 after the Alto al Crimen presentation about our organization and its services. We plan to have renewals and open season sign-ups for the medical discount plan once a year in late December--early January.
  15. "it would seem more supportive of your potential subscribers for you to provide a link to the PDF document rather than publicize your inability to navigate CL. If you need help, just ask " I plead guilty to having an inability to navigate Chiriqui Life. I was a programmer as early as 1963, have worked with PC's since 1982 and spend many hours every week navigating on the internet. But Chiriqui Life is, in my opinion, very difficult to navigate. The reason I didn't provide the link in my post was that I could not find it, even though I knew it was there and had even seen it once before. For Pederhaney: In our announcements I specifically included my personal email address for inquiries about the medical discount plan so that any inquiries would come directly to me. It worked for a lot of people, because I answered a lot of emails. I'm not sure why your messages on the web site were not forwarded to me but will look into it. Most people use the web site to register for AAC Hotline service, and the database manager deals with that area. The "Contact Us" link is usually used for providing changes and updates for the database. Though your messages should have been passed on, messages of that kind are not "rapid response" matters. The AAC Hotline has two different phone numbers that are monitored around the clock for emergency calls, and it is separate and distinct from administrative matters. I doubt that you would send us a message if you had an emergency.
  16. Sign-up opportunity for AAC Medical Discount Plan on Thursday, 29 December A good number of people have signed up for the Hospital Cooperativo medical discount plan (PLAN SOLIDARIO), but Tuesday is not the best day for some folks, particularly the vendors at the Tuesday Market. We have arranged to be at the Boquete Library on the third floor this Thursday, December 29 from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM. You can review information about the plan on Chiriqui.Life or on Boquete.ning.com. On .ning the original plan announcement will be somewhere close to the top in the Forum section. It has an English translation of the plan contract. Though it is not easy to find, there is a .pdf copy of our PowerPoint presentation linked on Chiriqui.life If you would like to have a copy of the presentation sent to you, send a request to rhgusn@yandex.com not later than 6:00 PM Wednesday. Please use "PRESENTATION REQUEST" as the subject line. Cost for the medical discount plan is $150 per year ($125 for other members of the same family). An annual AAC contribuion is included. Costs for services at Hospital Cooperativo and the doctors there are already low, and the plan discounts make them lower. Please bring cash or your checkbook and a copy of the cedula, pensionado card or passport for each person. The copy machine at the library is not working. We'll try to bring a copier along, but the process works faster if you bring copies with you.
  17. I “invested” 26 years of my life in military service. In return, I was promised a pension for life and free medical care for life. The pension is working out okay and will continue to do so unless and until the US government runs out of money. The “free medical care” turned out not to be the case. It might come close if I lived near a military medical facility where I could be seen, generally with secondary priority after active duty personnel, to which I would not object. Failing that option, which has not existed in Panama since 1999, I need an approach that works where I live. The option didn't practically exist where I lived in the US because the nearest military medical facility was about 75 miles away. I have coverage that has a $3,000 annual deductible (scheduled to increase to $3,500 in 2020) and, beginning in 2018 a $300 annual registration fee (set to increase based on inflation). In effect, what I now have is “semi-catastrophic” coverage. So my “free” medical care only costs me $300 per year if I stay well. (And it keeps me from paying a fine for not having Obamacare!) It's also true that processing claims via a government contractor is not much fun, particularly in an area that does not have a numeric code to cover all sorts of symptoms and diagnoses. My wife had one moderately expensive major surgery, and the claim for it was paid. The only real reason for processing claims for lower cost services and procedures is to establish credit on the deductible. I usually just don't bother with it. Two or three years ago, without realizing it, I became dehydrated by walking around the feria in David for hours. That night I had severe leg cramps to the extent that I could not walk and also diarrhea. The combination is pretty disastrous. We used the private ambulance service because they send a med tech, who in this case administered an IV immediately and maintained it all the way to the hospital. I was seen in the emergency room, given more IV's for hydration and placed in a hospital room. I was at the hospital for about 12 hours overall. The hospital bill was a few hundred dollars. I forget the exact amount. With the Hospital Cooperativo plan I would probably have paid around $150 or less. The top cost for a hospital room there with the plan discount is $49. The emergency room fee under the plan is $7.50. Though we have insurance that covers us here and worldwide, we will be using the AAC-Hospital Cooperativo plan for our routine and low to moderate cost services. The $150 (or $125 for family members) cost is low and properly is compared to net costs at other facilities AND to the deductible of any insurance you may have. There is no point in paying higher than necessary prices just to satisfy the deductible sooner. As I have written before, for people who can easily afford to pay high premiums, it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But every year those $2,000 to $5,000 premiums are gone forever, whether or not you have had any payable claims. For some people it makes a lot more sense to put the premium amount in a separate savings account, add more to it every year and use the low cost Hospital Cooperativo discount plan for routine, lower-cost services. If something quite expensive comes up, you will have cash in the bank to pay with or, if an emergency is not involved, money with which to return to the US for Medicare service. Sometimes the “pearl of great price” principle may apply. It can be worth a lot to have a good, long-term relationship with a hospital and with a doctor or group of doctors you trust and who know you and your medical history. It's worth even more if the cost for their services is low and then discounted. For several years in the US I used a doctor who did not accept assignment of my insurance. But he and his office staff were so good and efficient that it was worth it to me to just pay and go on with my life. Even if you have good insurance, if the deductible is high, the Hospital Cooperativo plan can make good sense. If you don't have good insurance, it makes even more sense.
  18. Alto al Crimen announces a very economical medical discount plan---Ready Now!! A big thanks to the large crowd who attended our presentation at the Tuesday Meeting this week. But even a large crowd at the BCP theater is only a small fraction of the people in Boquete's expat community. Consequently, we're sending this announcement via local internet media to be able to reach a much larger segment of the expat population here. This is a long announcement; please bear with us and read it all the way through. We need to convey this information to all expats who need a low-cost medical discount plan. What we targeted was an extremely affordable medical discount plan that will give people access to good medical care from good doctors and a good hospital First, think about this. If you want to fly from New York City to Bangkok, you can fly on Emirates Airlines business class for more than $7200 or you could book economy class on another airline for a little over $500. Emirates would lavish you with luxury, including cold, scented towels to put on your neck, but the bottom line is you would get to Bangkok either way. I say that to say this. You can have a high end luxury medical discount plan or insurance policy if you want it and can afford it. Or you can have a fully adequate plan with low prices and large discounts. Most of the time people pay insurance premiums on their houses and cars while sincerely hoping they don't have a car accident or a house fire or a burglary. Most of the time they win their bets and have no claims during the year. The same is true with medical insurance or other plans. But if you DO have a problem, it is good to have a way to keep your costs as low as possible. The plan Alto al Crimen is able to make available to our existing “members” and others in the community who wish to sign up for our AAC Hotline service is with a hospital you possibly have not even heard of. The hospital is Hospital Cooperativo, and the plan is called “Medicina Solidaria.” A good translation of “Medicina Solidaria” is people supporting and backing up medical care for themselves and other people. Hospital Cooperativo is truly a cooperative organization which charges low prices and operates on a truly cooperative, non-profit basis. At each year's end any gains that might otherwise be thought of as profits are used for developing and improving the hospital and its services and not paid to any investors. Hospital Cooperativo is a small hospital. It has ten hospital rooms (There are 12 rooms at hospital Mae Lewis.) There are 15 to 20 affiliated doctors, a small staff of nurses and an administrative staff. The hospital has an emergency room, a pharmacy, a small cafeteria and a laboratory capable of performing most normal laboratory functions. It has a well-equipped operating room, an X-ray facility and an untrasound room. Most of the staff speak no English, but many of the doctors do speak English. The hospital director has a son who is a doctor in David who could be called on to translate for emergency room patients. Also, Franc Lugo, our AAC Hotline operator can call ahead for people enroute by ambulance, explain the nature of the medical problem and stand by to translate by telephone. The hospital offers services in the following medical areas: General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Emergency Room, Pediatric Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Otolaryngology, Radiology, Orthopedics, Reumatology, Dermatology, Physical medicine and Rehabilitation, Physical Therapy, Nutrition and Psychology As I have mentioned, every effort is made to keep prices low because the mission of the hospital to to provide good medical services at prices people can afford. There is emphasis on not ordering unnecessary laboratory tests or X-rays---only what is needed. Here is a list of applicable discounts for group members. Emergency Room – 50% Operating Room – 30% Hospital Rooms – 30% Injections – 30% Medicines in the Farmacy – 25% Specialist Consults -- 20% Laboratory Tests – 30% Ultrasound – 20% X-rays – 20% Intravenous fluids – 20% As an example to put the discounts in context, the cost to a group member for Emergency Room service is $7.50, and the daily cost for a hospital room is $42 to $49. As more members are added to the group, the hospital will continue to improve and expand its facilities. When the group (including Panamanians and expats) reaches 2,000 members, there will be a reduction in the already-low cost. There are already plans for next year to add 4 to 5 more beds, to enlarge the laboratory and to add three offices for doctors. Hospital Cooperativo is the ONLY cooperative hospital in Panama, and it has been in operation for thirty years. If you are well-off financially and want full medical insurance with all the bells and whistles, that is very reasonable for you. But if you are looking for a way to have quality medical care at low and discounted prices the Medicina Solidaria plan Alto al Crimen can make available is very possibly your best choice. If you are paying or considering paying $2,000 to $5,000 per year for medical insurance, instead you could become a member of the AAC/Hospital Cooperativo plan and put the insurance premiums in a savings account for medical contingencies. All your routine medical care could be taken care of through the very inexpensive discount plan. If you need no expensive procedures, your money will still be in the bank for future use, and you can add more every year. If you were paying medical insurance premiums, they would be gone whether or not you had any major expenses.. HOW MUCH? We will offer the group plan and include your AAC Hotline service for $150 per year. For other persons in the same household, the cost will be $125 per year. Because of the very low cost, there are no other family discounts. We need to require annual payments to minimize bookkeeping costs and administrative hassles. There is no waiting period, and there are no pre-existing condition restrictions. Also there are no age limits. We have an enrollment open season through January 17, 2017. Thereafter membership renewals will be due in January every year. Each group member will be issued a wallet card for use at the hospital, and each doctor's office and other hospital office that provides services will have a list of all annual-paid members to verify their status. Signing up involves executing a simple contract, providing personal information for your wallet card and paying $150 by check or cash. If you are not already registered for the AAC Hotline service, you will need to sign up and provide information for our data base, including detailed directions for finding hour home. Depending on the level of demand, we will have one or more sign-up opportunities before the last sign-up day on 17 January 2017. Several ;people did not have their money of check books this week, so another sign-up opportunity is being scheduled for December 20 at the BCP market, where we will have a table. Below is an English translation of the Medicina Solidaria contract. For legal reasons, the actual contracts will be in Spanish. PLAN SOLIDARIO OF COOPERATIVE HEALTH In the city of David, Province of Chiriqui, Republic of Panama, on the _______ day of the month _________ in the year ______---. between the COOPERATIVO DE SALUD CENTRAL DE URGENCIAS MEDICAS, R.L. (CUMECOOP, R.L.) a non-profit entity located in the district of David, Barriada Manuel Quintero Villarreal, Avenida Tercera West and C Street North, represented in this act by Dr. Ruben Dario Corre, male Panamanian, adult, married, with cedula #6-9-101 in his position of President of the Directors of the Cooperative. The following are the clauses & conditions of the plan. FIRST CLAUSE: The COOPERATIVO DE SALUD CENTRAL DE URGENCIAS MEDICAS, R.L. (CUMECOOP, R.L.) will offer the USER of the PLAN SOLIDARIO OF COOPERATIVE HEALTH that credits your status such that the Medical Servicess stipulated in CLAUSE 6 of this agreement & whose scope of coverage is established only within the installations of Hospital Cooperativo, located in the city of David, Province of Chiriqui, Republic of Panama. SECOND CLAUSE: in order to credit your status as a USER of the PLAN SOLIDARIO OF COOPERATIVE HEALTH, you commit to pay $10.00 monthly for the direct discount _______ or pay voluntarily through the window _____ to the COOPERATIVO DE SALUD CENTRAL DE URGENCIAS MEDICAS, R.L. (CUMECOOP, R.L.) (AAC NOTE: AAC members will only make annual payments, and no monthly payments will be involved.) THIRD CLAUSE: The COOPERATIVO DE SALUD CENTRAL DE URGENCIAS MEDICAS, R.L. commits to furnish an ID card to identify you as a beneficiary of the services. It will also furnish a card for registering payment & health services received at Hospital Cooperativo. (AAC NOTE: AAC members will not need the payment record card. In actuality, it does not have spaces to show health services received. A list of annual-paid members will be places in every doctor's office and other service location in the hospital to verify your paid status.) FOURTH CLAUSE: This cooperative health plan agreement grant the benefit of discounts only to the person who signs this contract and is not transferable. In order to receive the benefits authorized to the USER of the PLAN SOLIDARIO OF COOPERATIVE HEALTH, the person must present his card & the card that also lists the monthly payments. (AAC NOTE: AAC will arrange for an official annotation on the card to show payment has been made until a date one year after the date of the contract.) FIFTH CLAUSE: The user of the plan must complete his monthly payments of $10.00. If that is not done, he will lose coverage, and the contract will be terminated without any refunds. (AAC NOTE: This will not apply except after the date one year after the date of the contract when another annual payment will be due. If that payment is not made, the services will be terminated.) SIXTH CLAUSE: The COOPERATIVA CENTRAL DE URGENCIAS MEDICAS, R.L. commits to give discounts for the following health services offered at Hospital Cooperativo:  EMERGENCY ROOM CONSULT ….50%  OPERATING ROOM ….....................30%  HOSPITAL ROOM….........................30%  START IV (VENOCLISIS).................30%  MEDICINES FROM PHARMACY ....25%  SPECIALIST CONSULTS ..............20%  LABORATORY TESTS …...............30%  ULTRASOUND TESTS …...............30%  X-RAYS …........................................30%  INTRAVENOUS APPLICATIONS ...30% After reading this contract and its clauses and in witness whereof, the parties hereby proceed to sign the same. Given in the city of David on the __________________ day of _________________ of the year _____________ __________________________________ ____________________________ USER OF THE PLAN SOLIDARIO DE . Dr. Luis Wong to. CDD: 4-95-987 SALUD COOPERATIVA CUMECOOP R.I. Administrative Director “COOPERATIVE MEDICINE: The Alternative Model of Health Services Management in Panama” If anyone would like a copy of the PowerPoint slides from the presentation on Tuesday, please send an email request to rhgusn@yandex.com, and one will be sent to you. This is a bit cumbersome, but I don't yet have the PowerPoint file posted on a web site. Alto al Crimen is a non-profit foundation which provides valuable community services and is funded by donations. We need and solicit your support. We need you to help us so that we can help you.
  19. Lest there be any confusion, please note that the announcement states that "Alto al Crimen will present a new, very low cost medical discount plan for AAC Hotline subscribers." The headline for the post on .ning mentions "insurance" by mistake.
  20. Judi: We have two numbers on two different cell carriers so that we have redundancy. The main number is on MoviStar, and the secondary number is on Mas Movil. I thought both numbers were already on the web site, but I'll be sure to add the secondary number if it's not there. Unfortunately, cell phone service here is not totally reliable. When glitches occur, the AAC Hotline can be affected. Having two different numbers is how we try to minimize problems. But if, for instance, you have a phone with any of the cell service providers and that service is not working well, you cannot reach the AAC Hotline. If one of our providers is having a problem, you will not be able to reach us on that line. Recently there have been simultaneous problems with more than one service at a time. We have no control over these things. If all else fails, you can try calling the Boquete police desk at 720-1224 and hope one of the policemen who speak English is on duty. Health and welfare checks (Yes, that is a rather common term in the US and in the US military) are not a main part of AAC service, but if the checks can be made by phone, we'll be happy to make them. We are not organized or budgeted for dispatching someone by vehicle for such checks. However, we'll discuss that and see if one of our volunteers would be willing to work with us to make physical visits. I don't imagine there would be frequent requirements. The person being checked on would need to be registered in our database so that we would have a phone number and address. Likewise, it is not common for people to call the AAC Hotline when they have a car breakdown or accident or are stopped by a police officer, but it does happen. We offer the service of having our bilingual operator speak with police officers or call for road service or a tow truck. ANYONE can call, whether registered in our database or not (though registration is much better). That means the AAC Hotline is available to short-term tourists and visitors, to longer term visitors, to permanent resident expats and also to any Panamanian person who needs to call. The name of the game is community service. We do not make charges per se, but we do need and depend on donations so that we can pay the operator to operate the Hotline and handle other expenses. Our suggested minimum donation of $20 per year is extrremely affordable and one of the best bargains you can find. We encourage everyone in the community to register at altoalcrimen.info and to make a donation. It is because of having large numbers of registrants and contributors that Alto al Crimen can operate on small annual donations. You can leave envelopes marked "AAC" with cash or with checks payable to Fundacion Alto al Crimen at Mailboxes, Etc. ------------------------------ PS I have included the Alto al Crimen logo with both phone numbers. If you wish, you may print it and keep it handy in the house in addition to having both numbers in your cell phone directory under the names "AAC EMERGENCY" and "AAC EMERGENCY SECONDARY" so that they will always be at the very beginning of your contact directory.
  21. This is an old topic that I just happened to see. But I want to point out that the caller was in Volcan where only Rodny Direct offers services. It would be quite unlikely that anyone in Volcan would even have the numbers for Alto al Crimen's Hotline.
  22. Jim and Judi: Something has been wrong with the telephone systems this evening. I am the president of Alto al Crimen. When I learned of the problem you had, I immediately called both emergency numbers. The main number did not work. The secondary number worked, and Franc Lugo answered right away. I told him about the problem, and he said that he had had the phone on his person all the time and that it had not rung at all until my call. I gave him your name. He looked it up in the AAC database, found your number and called it. He received a message saying that the phone was not in service. That was either because there was a network problem or because you perhaps changed your phone number and did not report the change to Alto al Crimen. When Franc called me back to report about trying to call you, he also reported that he had attempted to call three other people and could not reach any of them. As someone else reported in this discussion, apparently Mas Movil has had problems this evening. Apparentlyly MoviStar has also had problems, based on my experience trying to call the AAC Hotline. You mentioned calling three numbers, but the AAC Hotline only has two numbers, 6477-6662 and 6917-0011. Do you recall what the third number was?
  23. Alto al Crimen and Valle Escondido Roll out enhanced services Beginning this week on July 15 Alto al Crimen (AAC) and Boquete Consulting Security (BCS) are offering enhanced security and emergency response services to the residents of Valle Escondido. BCS provides security services to Valle Escondido, and its personnel are trained to respond in various emergencies. AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish. AAC Hotline service will continue as before for the broader community, but for Valle Escondido (and later one or more other gated communities) the AAC Hotline operator will immediately call the BCS security gatehouse to report emergencies and the unit number involved. Then the security force can provide rapid response while police, ambulance or fire services are being dispatched. Also the AAC Hotline operator will only need to dispatch emergency services to the entry gate. From there security personnel can lead the emergency vehicle to the affected unit. This will save time providing detailed directions by phone to the emergency services. Anyone living in Valle Escondido, including short term renters and resort guests, can call the AAC Hotline number whether or not registered with a number. All property owners are being asked to support AAC by a minimum annual donation of $20. Each residence will be provided with a laminated emergency calling guide in English and Spanish. Only the Valle Escondido unit number will be needed for dispatching emergency assistance. People who want to sign up individually and provide additional information for the AAC database may do so and are encouraged to do so. BCS will provide the service of accepting donations for AAC to simplify the donation process, but donations may also be made by checks to Fundacion Alto al Crimen left in envelopes at Mailboxes, Etc. AAC services to people in non-gated communities and other homes will continue as before, and we continue to emphasize the importance of having very clear directions stored in the AAC database. The name of the game is community service. Alto al Crimen and Boquete Consulting Security are pleased to be working together to make things better for our community. If you have any suggestions about AAC Hotline services to your gated community or neighborhood, please send them by email to aac.boquete@gmail.com You may update your registration information by email to the same address. In any emergency, call AAC Hotline at 6477-6662 (Alternate number 6917-0011) ******
  24. Photo by Bob Gregory The rains have returned to the Boquete area. Of course we are glad to see the rain because the water is needed for agriculture and to operate the Panama Canal. But the rain also marks the the return of gray, fuzzy mold on shoes, coats, rugs, furniture, and other things in your home. Also we have received word of the spread of the H1N1 flu virus in Chiriqui, and we need ways to prevent or treat that kind of infection. So here comes a shameless promotion of El Matador Mold Killer and some other El Matador products that can be important in your life and health and the life and health of your pet. "El Matador" means "The Killer," and most El Matador products fit that description in one way or another. Here is a rundown of some principal El Matador products. El Matador MOLD KILLER -- Kills and prevents growth of mold on shoes, leather jackets, area rugs, draperies, backs of furniture, etc. 16 ounce spray bottle - $7 El Matador COLLOIDAL SILVER -- This miracle in a bottle kills over 600 different microorganisms. Take orally for colds, flu other viral infections, sore throat, candida, gastroenteritis, yeast infections, etc. Use topically for burns, cuts, scrapes, skin infections, etc. 4 ounces - $10, 8 ounces - $15, 32 ounces (quart) - $45. When bottles are available, 16 ounces - $24, 24 ounces - $35. Also great for pets. Completely safe. Long list of non-medical uses also, including sanitizing fruits and vegetables. El Matador BORON SUPPLEMENT -- "Kills" (prevents and cures) arthritis and osteoporosis. Kills candida infections. Boosts hormones. Important supplement because most farm soils have been depleted of boron. Good for preventing and treating arthritis in pets. Quart bottle - $12 (2 month supply for one person) El Matador PUP FRESH -- Kills dog odors between baths. Kills germs and repels fleas and ticks. Fresh, pleasant odor. Don't bathe your dog too often because it can be bad for the skin. Can also be sprayed on dog bedding NOT FOR CATS. 24 ounce spray bottle $8 For each of these products except PupFresh I furnish a guidesheet sent to your email address. Other free information, including eBooks, is also available to provide detailed guidance for colloidal silver and boron supplement uses for specific conditions. To order any product send an email to Bob Gregory at rhgusn@gmail.com or call 6745-2828. Also email for a complete product list and any detailed information you wish. Products may be picked up at my house in Alto Boquete or usually at the Tuesday BCP market by arrangement. For your convenience, Andrew Foote stocks the smaller sizes of El Matador colloidal silver at his Tuesday market table in the Hex Room.
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