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health insurance


palmajeank

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You have to secure the visa before you leave your home country if you wish to become a resident. Then, Mexican health insurance would be a good idea. The cost will increase substantially every year until you are old and can no longer afford it. Otherwise, if you are young enough to get it, and have no prior conditions, go for it. There are many companies to shop.

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In my opinion if you are going to live full time in Mexico you should consider private medical insurance. The cost is really hard to nail down as it varies by age, your health and preexisting conditions, type of coverage, deductibles, etc. You will have many more options if you secure coverage before the age of 65 and as RVGRINGO says the cost goes up each year.

You will get lots of opinions on this so I think it is important to figure out what works for you. Personally we bought private insurance almost 10 years ago. Didn't use it at all for the first 6 years or so but in the last few years I have had extensive medical treatment and the insurance has given me access to outstanding doctors and hospitals without worrying about the financial impact. It has more than paid for itself.

Our agent is Jesus Tejeda - Cell # 333-667-0499 - Speaks great English, provides GREAT service.

Lots of other options so shop around and figure out what works for you.

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I wouldn't be without private insurance. If a rough idea will help you, I am 61 and have a 25000 peso deductible, and a 10% co-pay and paid 35000 pesos this year. My coverage is to an unlimited amount within Mexico, and allows me to choose any hospital I want in Guadalajara,even the most expensive one. This insurance is for catastrophic issues and regular doctor's appointments are paid out of pocket at about 200 pesos for a family practitioner and 600 pesos for a specialist. I got this through Jesus Tejeda too and highly recommend him. You can email him with questions on a quote for yourself at jtejeda17 at hotmail.com

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My situation is similar to gimpychimp although I pay more due to my age. I think private insurance is the only way to go if you can afford it. What I have has no limits and is non-cancelable. Beware of the "group policies" offered at very low cost, they don't cover much. They look good at first glace but a careful reading of the coverage offered shows that they don't compare to "full coverage" insurance. They are the right thing for some and the only thing available for others. I too recommend Jesus Tejeda.

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So gimpychimp did you pay 35000 for the whole year in monthly payments or was that out of pocket after you paid your monthly premiums? In US dollars that seems pretty expensive for healthcare insurance.

Thank you all for your information. I am 62 so it seems like it could be costly to have health insurance in Mexico.

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That is about $2100 USD for the entire year, which I thought was very reasonable compared to U.S. rates. One American friend told me years ago that health insurance would cost her $1000 USD PER MONTH after she retired. This payment was billed to my credit card in one payment, it is not a "monthly payment" type of arrangement. There are no further monthly premiums.

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Thank you both for the clarifications. It is cheaper than the U.S. and it seems a better quality. Now I just have to get my husband to agree to move there. We will be spending almost 3 months in Ajijic area this winter. I love it there maybe he will too! Then what, do you have to get a permanent visa? To obtain the insurance?

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We got our health insurance when we still had temporadas. It's about $200 in dollars per month for the two of us. Big deductable, no co-pay. We are in good health and under 65.

Can't comment on how good it is because we haven't needed to use it ....yet. We've only had small expenses which we pay out of pocket. But having seen what can happen when people don't have insurance, yes you certainly need good coverage unless you have an ample amount of savings to back you up. Medical care here can be excellent and, compared to the US, inexpensive but major health treatment is still not affordable out-of-pocket for many of us.

There are the government programs, IMSS and Seguro Popular, but the majority of people prefer private insurance if they can afford it.

As REC says, there are lots of options, so shop around. You will have plenty of time for that when you are here.

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I have an International Health Insurance policy that was $2'100 USD (I pay annually) I only made one small claim, and everything went smoothly. The only limitation was I could not be in the US for more than 60 day per year. Not a problem as I only visit for a couple of weeks a year anyway.

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I have WEA and I believe that the deductible is $5'000p for the two of us. Coverage in the US is good as long I I am not there too long.

Annual check up is covered 100%

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  • 2 weeks later...

The WEA drops a lot if you choose "worldwide - except the U.S.A." Then get travellers insurance when you are in the U.S.A. You would be covered if in Canada.

That's really good information. We maintain our Medicare and supplemental in the U.S. so we could exclude it. But they may not write us even though we are very healthy over 70's.

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