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What Should Seguro Popular Registered Clients Carry?


Mainecoons

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We signed up for Seguro Popular this morning as an additional backup for emergency situations.  We will continue to get our routine and major non-emergency health care either privately here or from the Doctors we have established in the U.S.

The question is, what should we carry on our persons that show our SP membership in the event we need emergency care from them?  They gave us one copy of a stamped and signed one page "policy" that has our information and their number on it.  They apparently do not provide wallet cards like U.S. insurers do.

Should we both make copies of it and carry it while keeping the original in a safe place?

Thanks for your help.

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You need to get the next step, which is like a passport document. This has been covered elsewhere on this forum. They have to open a paper file for you in the clinic where you signed up.  The SEMA numbers are tied to this file. You need a SEMA number for each ongoing treatment, tests, scans, etc. This is part of the oversight and accountability process. You arrange to see a nurse at the clinic or hospital, and they will issue a SEMA number and appointments if you have to see specialists. The facility in Jocotepec is best for this, because they are actually a hospital, but not a full hospital. They can bring in the specialists/surgeons, etc., or transport you to Guadalajara by ambulance. They say the ambulances serve the entire Lakeside area - that is their mandate, but Jocotepec got the plum. They say they will even meet you at your home for pickup to Guadalajara. They say they even have their own helicopter if that fits the bill. No one has really tested these claims. Amazing really. Superior to anything we experienced in Canada for example.

The real big difference from private care is that Seguro Popular is triage based - you can't junp the line by flashing the cash.

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OK let me try and clarify this.  We wouldn't be going there for routine treatment.  I am thinking in terms of what we need to carry in the event of something like a car or moto crash which results in one or both of us being transported to a SP facility for emergency treatment.  That's not something one arranges in advance.

At this point we are planning on making copies of the original paper and carrying that on our persons along with other ID.  We'll keep the original in a safe place at home.  Will this suffice in case of emergency?

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Chillin seems to have given the complete procedure.  Just being enrolled is not enough.  You need to establish a record, with the SEMA ID number, a visit or two, etc.  IMSS was similar; you had to have “a file“.   It is that “passport document“ that you will probably present when you need care.

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30 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

At this point we are planning on making copies of the original paper and carrying that on our persons along with other ID.  We'll keep the original in a safe place at home.  Will this suffice in case of emergency?

I don't really know. Hire a medical facilitator and ask these questions. I think a SEMA passport is still necessary. Private medical care has become extremely expensive locally. While you might need for emergency, they are also extremely capable of dealing with common senior ailments, such as falls, gall bladder removal, hernias, chronic arthritis - all those things which make aging such a blessful experience. The Seguro Popular cuts into their "senior" program at the age 60 and above. You might have to pay a small amount if you are under 60. You may have to pay for some prescriptions, especially if you want non-generic for example. You want titanium screws in your knee replacement - extra. You want a fancy European pacemaker or cataract lens, instead of the ones SP buy in bulk purchase - extra.

If your gall bladder punks out on you, and you are in excruciating pain, you are not going back to the U.S.A. - the choice is a $7 - 10,000 U.S. operation in a Guadalajara private hospital, or free in the same size Jocotepec hospital, $450 U.S. extra if you want the surgeon to rent the "no cut" equipment.

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8 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

OK, in other words we need to use it in a non-emergency manner first to establish the ongoing relationship and coverage.  Do I have that correct?

 

I believe so. And as active in community fundraising as you are, you may find that Seguro Popular is in need of volunteers in many areas. The Bomberos in Guadalajara are trying to fund raise a new burn unit especially designed for kids for example. Sure the 16% I.V.A. pays for it all, but it is really the love and volunteering that keeps it going, and really makes it work. That is how us seniors using this system pay back - or at least don't feel so guilty using public healthcare.  IMSS has no love.

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I have S.P and I use it.  You will have to make copies of the original S.P and copies of your curp and img papers.  You will need these papers to get service from your local clinic, joco hosp and Hosp Civil in GDL.  Also to get your drugs from S.P pharmacies.  I  signed up for S.P as a back up but once I signed up and used it at the Ajijic clinic and the care that I received I quit going to the local doctors.  After my  second appointment with a blood test I was referred to specialists at Hosp civil in GDL for lung and kidney problems  I see them every three months and my primary dr. once a month at the local clinic.  Most of the speciallists will be at Hosp civil.   

 

 

 

 

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I helped a US friend sign up in August, They signed him up in 30 minutes from the time we arrived at one of their "modulos". They gave him the affilication document you got. They told him to make a copy and carry it. They also gave him the name and address of his local clinic. They told him to go there to the administration desk to get a "carnet" or a small appointment booklet /"card" for ID and take it to all appoinments.

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JerryS, would you mind telling us where the clinic in Ajijic is located?  We signed up with Spencer and they had the "passport" type books for us but did not know the locations of the clinics.  I know we can go to Joco Hospital and know that location but do not have actual addresses or directions to the one in Ajijic or San Antonio or Chapala for that matter.  Thanks.

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3 minutes ago, sparks said:

They give you a full page approval paper that I had laminated.  That is all. The expiration date is on the back 

Have you ever used the system Sparks? I wonder if by carrying your "carnet" you might benefit from your emergency care providers who will know what you have, or are currently being treated for.

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O.K. I asked Ms. Chillin, she has been to Chapala SP a few times now, also helping elderly neighbours to sign up. She says if you go to a clinic or hospital you are supposed to bring your "carnet", your original contract, and multiple copies. There is very definitely a central paper file where everything you have had done ends up. One of the parts of the SP contract is that they pledge to protect the confidentiality of your medical records. We talked about emergency, say a car/motorcycle crash, and we both agreed if the first responders see gringo blood, you will wake up in the most expensive, private hospital nearby. Maybe they get some sort of finder's fee?

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I forgot something important with Seguro Popular. They want to open a central file for you, with your blood type, preconditions, etc. If you have had tests done, they may want them redone with their own people. The idea is to create a holistic health care strategy, utilizing not only drugs but lifestyle and diet for example. Again, I have never seen such a concept in Canadian public medicine, but I believe this is the norm in the U.K. Makes a lot of sense, and probably saves a lot of money over the medium and long term.

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I was in an accident...needed stitches....They were willing to treat me at the hospital in Joco BUT if I did not produce my current 3 yr CONTRACT....I would have to pay for treatment...and that would have been at a fair price. I did have the contract, which was covered in plastic and I know the doctor who we had been assigned to and I had my booklet with my appointment shown..

I was treated at no charge and was asked to return a week later to have stitches removed. I did so....showed my contract and had my stitches removed.

 

Fred Habacht

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