relocating

My wife and I are l very serious about moving to St. Thomas by the end of 2003.

My wife or I have health insurance that will cover us on St. Thomas.

Is health insurance avabile on St. Thomas?

What would in cost for two adults in good health at 60 years old?

Who would I contact to get quotes on hearlt insurance?

Thanky you in advance for your information.

Hello Keith,

The USVI is a pretty expensive place in terms of rent. I quess you could look at it in different ways, you aren't paying for heating, but you will for water, view might be better here :-).... What it comes down to is what do you consider moderate - tell me a price range. Let me see if if its a hopeful price or not likely. If you look in the moving informaiton on this site, moving guide in the top navigation - there is a cost of living page in the island living section. Gives an idea of rent, gas, electricity, water, food...

Finding a job in service industry - chances are good, there are lots of job types in that field, particularly sales and restaurant work. Also watersports and leisure activities in general. Consider however that you are coming in toward the end of the season, sort of. And so a lot of seasonal workers who come during 'winter season' have already secured these spots. But pretty sure you can find something, persistence in the job hunt will work.

--Islander

Hello Glen,

Health insurance is avialable in St. Thomas. Not sure what the cost are. However for your age, show your senior cards and AARP - many places do give discounts (banks, grocery stores, even inspection lane for cars I believe (not positive on that one)

Best bet for prices would be to contact an insurance company. What you can do is access the USVI yellow pages at

http://www.usviyellowpages.org and search for Insurance Companies - you will get the listings and numbers for all the insurance companies, for all the USVI. If you have difficulty accessing them - post again.

--Islander

Seem to recall you saying you came to the USVI from California -- what about some input.

Also Glen, did you read the What to Expect section of the Moving Guide (look for it at the top of this page) there are 4 stories there from people who moved to the USVI from the mainland - might help some to read them.

--Islander

Hey there Glen,
How exciting to hear that another California resident might be making the move...we have a substantial Texan and Northeast contingent, but haven't heard from a lot of Californians. Don't know where in California you are coming from, but...
We (hubby, 3 cats, dog, and I) moved here from San Francisco/Oakland 7 months ago.
Some things are the same as in California (we have PriceSmart and Costuless, which is akin to Costco; we are without electricity on occasion; English is the official language; population is racially diverse) and some things are drastically different (population is still racially diverse, but the majority is now African-descent; the English is uniquely Caribbean, meaning you may have to ask someone to repeat themselves...many times).
One thing I have missed the least...the large homeless population in SF, CA. There is a homeless pop. here and there is a shelter, but they tend to be unobtrusive.
Short-term rentals: We found a place to rent one week before we arrived. But we were going to stay at the Mafolie Hotel for a couple of months until we landed on our feet. Helga, one of the owners, was kind enough to rent to us with our animal menagerie. I have also heard great things about Ronnie, a frequent poster on this board, who runs the Crystal Palace. He specializes in short-term rentals and is also a wealth of information.
Car Prices: This is my opinion, but others have thought differently...in comparison to California, the used car prices are astronomical. It would have been cheaper for us to ship our car with Tropical (good prices by the way). People actually sell early 1990's SUV's for 10-15K. On top of that,the engines have taken a greater beating than stateside b/c of all the hills. If you are going to buy new, however, I think the prices are comparable.
Health_insurance and related issues: A friend of mine who is from Texas and has lived here for four years articulated it perfectly: I will live in the USVI until I have medical problems or until I die. Medical Care on the island is a work in progress. Although medical gaffes can occur anywhere (case in point: the recent teen transplant victim), they seem to happen too frequently here. I have another friend who had a relatively simple eye infection, went to the hospital, and is now blind in one eye due to the lack of care she was given. At another time, the nurses in the dialysis unit, protesting against the reappointment of a doctor, walked off their jobs. Patients scheduled for treatment did not receive it as a result. I found that simply unacceptable. Given these stories, you will come to understand why so many residents go off island to Puerto Rico or Miami for health care.
There are many helpful stories included in the moving guide--check them out for further info.
Hope that helps, and above all, good luck on your new adventure!

I LOVE OUR NEW HOME and community and wouldn't go back for anything!

Thanks Onika 🙂

--Islander

Hmm, here is a meaty topic...
Re: health insurance...here is a link about the companies which are licensed to sell insurance http://new.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=59918
Re: negatives or pitfalls for the newcomer...well, the USVI is very different from the mainland, almost defiantly so. If you get exasperated at the differences, someone will surely tell you, "You are NOT in the States anymore." If you move here, I think you should not burn your bridges. Most who do not like it seem to leave in 6 months to a year, so don't buy anything until you have been here awhile. Yes, you can get a condo, look around first!
Re: short term rentals. As Onika said, Ronnie has a place called Villa Fairview which is just such a spot- a home until you can find your little spot in Paradise. Or you can come down for a pre-moving visit and look for a longer term rental.

A couple of thoughts you didn't really ask about... If you are not happy where you are, you will not be happy here. A change in latitude does not always mean a change in attitude (sorry Jimmy!!) If you have work (paid or not) that you enjoy, your chances of satisfaction will be greater. If you are impatient, you will burn out quickly. One of my earliest memories was a group of people sitting at a beach bar staring at the horizon, not a word was said... When I arrived 8 1/2 years ago I kissed the ground at the airport and called this new land home. I, too, would not trade it for anything!

Wow, thank you for the wealth of information.

I'm still trying to find health insurance on St. Thomas.

We will rent first the buy home and new car.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Glen

EAST ENDER

I tried the long e-mail address that you had in your memo and all I get is the page is not available.

Do you have a direct website address?

Thank you

I sent you a nice reply and got a return message that the person I sent it to did not work there??????????/

Glen: Hmm, try new.onepaper.com or even onepaper.com and search for "health insurance". The article was just on there, the 23rd or 24th... I am not so hot with that copy and paste deal.... Basically it said that the three companies which sell individual health insurance are: Clarendon, Atlantic Southern and Amidex. Interestingly, the government health insurance is not on the list.