Healthcare in Mexico: Understanding Your Options as a Foreigner - (2024)

FAQs

What are the healthcare options in Mexico? ›

The healthcare system in Mexico is a blend of public and private institutions. The public sector provides healthcare for the uninsured through the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) and the Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE).

The Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS) provides healthcare services for both Mexican citizens and expats legally residing in the country. People enrolled in the IMSS program receive full coverage, including prescriptions. To find out if you will qualify for the program, check the IMSS site.

Although the gap in access to healthcare has decreased in recent years (from 38.4% of the population with no access in 2008 to 16.2% in 2018) [1], the prevalence of Mexicans without access to healthcare coverage is still relevant. In Mexico, health services are provided by differentiated subsystems [6].

How does Mexico perform overall? 72% of the population is covered for a core set of services. 57% of people were satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare (OECD average 67%). Financial coverage, with 50% of spending covered by mandatory prepayment, was lower than the OECD average of 76%.

Mexico's healthcare system is underfunded and inadequately organized to meet the needs of its population in light of increasing longevity and the growing challenges created by the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer.

The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social or IMSS is Mexico's national healthcare program. Foreigners who are living and employed in Mexico are eligible for IMSS coverage. It is a popular resource for working expats with a temporary or permanent residency visa.

A 2020 research paper that surveyed some 427 Americans crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in California for medical services found that most of the respondents "felt that Mexican health care services are of the same or better quality compared with those in the United States, for a lower cost."

The share of people considered vulnerable due to a lack of access to health services in Mexico amounted to more than one third of the country's population in 2022. In that year, it was estimated that 39.1 percent of the Mexican population suffered vulnerabilities for this reason.

“Medicines and services are cheaper in Mexico, especially dental procedures. You can get your teeth cleaned or an implant for a fraction of the cost of what you get in the US.” Big employers also sometimes send people covered by their insurance to other countries for hip or knee replacements or bariatric surgery.

Medical procedures in Mexico offer substantial discounts compared to the U.S. In some cases, the cost of having a procedure done in Mexico will be less than the co-pay in the United States. Cardiac bypass surgery that would run $144,000 in the U.S. costs just $27,000 in Mexico.

Do you have to pay for medical care in Mexico? ›

Remember that healthcare in Mexico isn't free, and medical cover would be necessary if you were to get hurt or fall ill. Check whether your insurer can pay your medical expenses for you or whether you will need to pay upfront and be reimbursed at a later date.

Healthcare System Performance Ranking

Key findings: “The top-performing countries overall are Norway, the Netherlands, and Australia. The United States ranks last overall, despite spending far more of its gross domestic product on health care.

Best Private Hospitals in Mexico City

Hospital Médica Sur currently tops Newsweek's 2024 Best Hospitals in Mexico list and has been one of Mexico's best hospitals for over a decade. The hospital works together with the Mayo Clinic, one of the leading hospitals in the United States.

After the program was enacted in 2003, Mexico's federal and state governments worked with civil society institutions to enroll more than 53 million people in the first ten years of the program, achieving universal coverage in 2012.

Mexico's healthcare system isn't as good as the American healthcare system, but in some areas, it can be quite good. The fact that it is pretty much affordable too makes Mexican healthcare a preferred choice not just for expats but also for medical travelers.

Your employer-provided health plan may have limited or no coverage in Mexico, and Medicare doesn't cover health care outside the United States, except in rare cases. Travel health insurance pays for emergency medical expenses during a trip. These expenses include the following: Ambulance service.