How applicable is the old Mexican adage that says that nobody knows whom they are benefiting with their labor (“nadie sabe para quien trabaja”) when they carry out certain actions? Very applicable if you look at what President Donald Trump and the Republican Party is trying to do to finish off once and for all the Affordable Care Act (ACA), wickedly labeled by Republicans as “Obamacare.”
Who are they working for while they are trying every trick of the political trade to wipe ACA out? The answer is shocking, particularly if you take into consideration that in one of his executive orders President Donald Trump cursed and maligned ACA along with his not very nice statements made about Mexico and Mexicans. Wow, did this dude offend Mexicans!
But if the Trump administration and the Republican Party continue to cancel the myriad of benefits for U.S. citizens provided under ACA, the beneficiaries would definitely not be the approximately 3.9 million U.S. citizens who are now faced with old age and imminent retirement. They will certainly be among the hardest hit because their senior age income would be badly mangled.
But in the end, The Donald and the Republicans (sounds like a good title for a Disney animated flick) have no idea that by eliminating the ACA they are working for Mexican and international entrepreneurs who see a great potential in the burgeoning industry of looking after U.S. and Canadian seniors in very decent and affordable care facilities in Mexico.
Assistance in Retirement Mexican Association (AMAR) President Javier Govi says that the Republican cancellation of ACA would force millions of U.S. retirees to start looking for “asylum in Mexico,” much to the joy of already established firms providing different types of assistance for the elderly — from temporary housing to full time care, depending on needs and of course, affordability, but always keeping a high standard of living.
Javier Govi, who has made it his lifetime effort to organize and develop this industry in Mexico, and runs a monthly newsletter to promote the AMAR (AMAR News) institution, is certain that between now and 2050, the amount of gringo retirees in Mexico will soar, not just because of the potential elimination of the ACA, but because by nature things are cheaper in Mexico.
“The cost of living in the nation is much lower, around 30 percent below the U.S. And if you add to this the current policies being applied by President Donald Trump, as well as the peso currency devaluation and the potential cancellation of Obamacare, it makes it feasible that a certain American social class of senior citizens will start moving to our nation,” he said.
In the AMAR News bulletin, articles constantly refer to the growing number of baby boomers who are not babies anymore but who will pick Mexico as a place to live at in their search to keep a living standard that may soon vanish in the United States.
“The current relationship between the United States under Trump already made Mexico a more attractive and affordable place for those Americans ready to retire.”
In their studies of the U.S. elderly, Govi estimates that there are currently 3.9 million baby boomers ready to make the move to retirement, and many companies devoted to building “villages” for the elderly are investing in Mexico in different developments. Most noteworthy are the U.S. owned and operated Belmont Village or the specialty Spanish company Ballesol — which are the latest organizations joining the retirement business in Mexico City and Querétaro City.
Of course, there are many small individual operations throughout the nations associated with AMAR which work out of traditional gringo retirement places like Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende, but the market potential, says Govi, is much larger as it is not only the U.S. retirees being counted as potential village residents but Mexicans as well, whose number at present is 12.9 million people over 60, with nine million of them with the potential retirement income of being able to pay these “luxury” facilities.
“As of today, there is the need for at least 250 projects to cover the services for independent, assisted and memory living in the nation,” Govi says.
Currently at a national level there are over 800 asylums and elderly care residences in Mexico with a great number of them working as non-government organizations who offer services either for low cost and/or charities.
But in general the AMAR member companies are in it for the money and offering “superior service” to the growing higher income population of seniors.
A final question as to the “benefits” Trump is bringing to Mexico if he and the Republicans finally succeed in doing away with the Affordable Care Act is, will this benefit Trump’s humongous unpopularity in Mexico?
Hell it won’t. And for sure, those affected if ACA is abolished and move to Mexico for retirement will not be sympathizing with The Donald either.
