Getting health insurance in Mexico, whether you are only spending six months in the country or you’re moving here for the long term, can be a confusing thing to understand.
I recently spoke to the team at Mexico Living Group about why you should consider having insurance at all and what your options are as you try to navigate finding the right health insurance in Mexico for you and your family.
Getting Health Insurance in Mexico
For the first year or so that I lived in Mexico, I wasn’t sure whether or not I should get coverage.
I’m young, healthy, active, and I hate going to the doctor. I used to wonder why I should pay for it anyway since it’s so cheap out of pocket if I need to grab a prescription or even if I needed an operation.
But after living here and actually experiencing the costs and seeing close friends spend thousands of dollars on emergency situations in private hospitals, I realized that it’s not really as cheap as I thought.
Why Should You Get Mexico Health Insurance?
Yes, going to the local doctor or heading to the pharmacy for a prescription is incredibly affordable.
If I head to my local pharmacy, I can talk to a doctor there for 20 Pesos. That’s one dollar! And most of the time, I don’t even need to do that. You can get creams, antibiotics, birth control pills, and pretty much any other medication you need without having to see the doctor. And for an incredibly affordable price.
Chandler at Mexico Living Group told me about a case that he’s dealing with right now with a client who is, unfortunately, dealing with cancer. Their medical bills have already climbed up well over $30,000 USD. While of course, this is nothing compared to how much it would cost if you were dealing with cancer treatment in the US, it’s still a very large sum of money that you would not want to pay for out of your own pocket.
I had a friend two years ago who slipped while getting out of the shower and broke their arm. He went straight to the hospital and after an x-ray, he was taken straight into surgery.
His surgery cost over $7,000 USD which also included the ambulance ride, visits to the doctor afterward, and a few visits with their physio once he was out of a cast and needed to work on movement again. Luckily, he had medical insurance in Mexico so he only paid a small amount.
Get a quote from Mexico Living Group here.
Hospitals in Mexico Can Refuse You Service
Did you know that all private hospitals in Mexico are for-profit entities?
This means that they can refuse you service. While in the US, you may have bill-collectors knocking on your door, a hospital cannot legally send you away, especially if it is something life-threatening.
That is not the case in Mexico.
If you come into a hospital and they know that it is going to be an expensive treatment, they will ask for cash (or a credit card) upfront or that you have insurance.
The guys at Mexico Living Group even told me that they know of patients who have not been allowed to leave the hospital until they have paid their bill. They are literally held there until money has been wired or received in full.
I don’t say this to scare you (although it did scare me a little bit). I just want to share the realities of the medical situation here in Mexico so that you have all of the facts before you make a decision for yourself.
How Much Does Mexico Health Insurance Cost?
Just like health insurance in the US, there are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a health insurance policy in Mexico.
What if You Have Pre-Existing Conditions?
I was really curious about what Mexico Living Group had to say about pre-existing conditions. I get emails from readers and YouTube subscribers all the time asking about the best health insurance for someone with Asthma or who has cancer treatments that they’d rather have in Mexico.
They couldn’t exactly give me a resolute answer on what would and wouldn’t be covered.
If you do have a pre-existing condition and you want to move to Mexico and have Mexican health insurance, I highly recommend speaking to Chandler and the team at Mexico Living Group directly. You can contact them directly here.
It is really taken on a case-by-case basis and depends on what your conditions are, what treatment you’ve been having in your home country, what insurance you already have if any.
It may be that your yearly premium would be higher or that your deductible would be higher than someone without a pre-existing condition. This is when speaking with an insurance broker is vital versus simply signing up directly through an insurance company without knowing exactly what is and isn’t covered.
Why Use an Insurance Broker?
As a young, internet-savvy gal, I really didn’t understand why you’d want to use a broker instead of just heading to the AXA website and signing up for the cheapest policy yourself.
Chandler explained to me that when you pay for health insurance directly through an insurance company, they can only offer you the policies that they have. It’s a one-size-fits-all model and you don’t really have another choice.
If you go through an insurance broker like Mexico Living Group, you get access to all of the insurance providers that they use. In this case, they have 15 different insurance providers. This they can create an insurance policy that perfectly fits what you need using a little bit of each different company to create a policy unique to your circumstances.
Why Use Mexico Living Group?
I met Chandler in Sayulita and plied him with lots of questions about health insurance in Mexico (as well as the best restaurants to try in San Miguel de Allende where he spends most of his time). Our conversation carried on over email and then to Zoom.
One thing that really stuck out was how knowledgeable he was about the different plans. Not only that though, he actually cares about his clients. The team at Mexico Living Group lives in Mexico. They know what life is like here. They want to make it even better for you and they’ll take as much time as you need to feel confident in your insurance decision.
They don’t just offer health insurance. They also offer life insurance, auto insurance, and even home insurance policies. All of them can be organized at the same time by sitting down and chatting with their team over the phone or even in person.
They also care deeply about their community and the roles they can play to improve them while living here in Mexico.
A percentage of every policy purchased goes towards a charity that you choose. While they have plenty to choose from around Mexico, you can also choose to make an impact in your local community in Mexico.
This post contains affiliate links.