7 Best Countries for a Healthy Retirement

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Personal health and the costs of medical care in the U.S. are key considerations for Americans considering retirement abroad.

Kathleen Peddicord, founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group, notes that the U.S. is the world’s most expensive place to seek medical care and insure against the expense.

“In some countries, including Panama, for example, a visit to an English-speaking doctor can cost $30 or less and an overnight stay in a hospital is hundreds, not thousands of dollars,” Peddicord wrote in a newsletter.

To help retirees who consider access to health care their top concern find the ideal place overseas, Peddicord selected seven countries that stand out for the quality and availability of their health care systems. These are places where a retiree who has a health concern can access international-standard care, typically at a fraction of the cost of comparable care in the U.S.

The seven countries in the gallery are listed by their rank in the World Health Organization’s survey of 191 countries’ health care systems. For comparative purposes, the U.S. ranks No. 37. “Blue Zones,” which are cited for two countries, are areas noted for the large number of centenarians in their populations.