The Truth About Mexican Healthcare & Mexican Health Insurance for Expats

Healthcare in Mexico is both high quality and affordable. Mexican doctors are well-qualified, with many having trained abroad, and able to speak English. This has led to the country becoming a popular destination for medical tourism, especially for Americans who travel south of the border in search of cheaper medical care.

• Physicians: Mexico requires physicians trained in Mexico to go through an intense medical program that includes four years of medical school, a one-year internship, and a hospital residency.

• Dentists: Dental services in Mexico are generally good and typically less expensive than they are in developed countries. Dentists in Mexico often have the same equipment and use the same cutting-edge procedures that you would find in other developed countries including the U.S. Dentists in Mexico are required to be certified through the Asociacion Dental Mexicana.

• Emergency Services: Access to care and emergency services is more readily available in Mexico’s urban areas. Rural areas often have fewer options for care and the ratio of beds available per 1,000 residents is approximately half of what you would find in more metropolitan Mexican cities.

• Prescription Medication: There are two types of pharmacies in Mexico. One type offers all medication except regulated medication. Many medications that require a prescription in the US, do not require one in Mexico and can be purchased quite easily. The other type, which is more difficult to find, offers regulated medications such as narcotics and antibiotics. Generally speaking, doctors in Mexico are more hesitant to issue prescriptions for the regulated medications as well.

Mexico uses both a public (government-funded) and a private system to provide health care for its residents.

Basically, options for health insurance in Mexico can be broken down into three categories:

• IMSS: Public healthcare usually comes through the IMSS, Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social. If you legally reside in Mexico, it can be obtained through an employer or by voluntarily enrolling. IMSS is funded by a combination of contributions by both the government, the employee and the employer. Deductions are automatically deducted from monthly salaries. If you are self-employed, you can apply for IMSS insurance.  Click here to learn more about enrolling in IMSS.

• Private Insurance: Private medical insurance policies can be purchased by an individual. This would consist of a plan of their choosing provided by a non-governmental agency that uses private medical professionals. Many ex-pats opt for international health insurance. These plans typically provide the same core benefits as a plan in the U.S. and often have many options available such as dental, vision, and even emergency evacuation coverages.

• INSABI: Public healthcare that provides health care to individuals who are not covered by IMSS or their own private insurance.

The upside to seeking out medical care in Mexico is that healthcare services in Mexico are cheap and of good quality.

The primary downside of the public healthcare system in Mexico is that wait times are often long and cumbersome because the demand for care far exceeds the supply. For example, the average wait time for a diagnostic procedure is 11 weeks and then it typically requires another 14 weeks of waiting if a surgical procedure is needed. Therefore, a simple surgical procedure may take six months to schedule. Whereas, those who have private health insurance in Mexico have significantly shorter wait times for appointments and procedures.

Due to this overcrowding in the public system, many ex-pats opt for private Mexican health insurance. In Mexico, the private system is separate from the public system. Therefore, private hospitals, specialist clinics, and general practitioners have much shorter waits for patients wishing to receive services.

*A note on language: Many Mexican health professionals speak English, yet most services are provided in Spanish. If language is of concern to you, it is helpful to know that most private insurance carriers offer customer service and help with the language barrier via phone or live chats. Cigna, our preferred Mexican health insurance provider, even offers case management services (see information below) for their customers. A case manager that speaks your preferred language can be assigned to you. Your assigned professional case manager is then available to help manage your care and help you navigate the Mexican healthcare system in your native language.