salud Popular

darbone: I will remember that advice the next time I fell ill!!!

Ah shoot!

I forgot to order a shrunken head and assortment of bones on eBay. My Juju is doomed...

geromio wrote:
I was wondering if anyone has ever been to Mexico and spent some time for treatment in the General Hospital in the country.

Been to Mexico, yes. Didn't have to do this yet, thanks God. If you are not enrolled in this plan (and it sounds like you're not, right now) - expect to pay 10-20K for a moderate cardiac surgery with few days hospital stay, this is in US funds.

Apperently they have an Universal Medical System like in Canada. Anyone is treated regardless of insurance coverage or not.

I doubt. Universal plan that I know is called Seguro Popular - not Salud Popular.

Tourists are not covered under this program. You need to be a permanent resident, or at least pretend to be one. You need a permanent address, utility bills to prove it, and Mexican SIN number called CURP. It does take some time to enroll, and like I said, gringos with tourist status living there semi-permanently are not quite eligible, though they manage to sneak in sometimes. The system has many loopholes like everything in Mexico.

And it's not "like in Canada". Imagine MASH hospital, only without incoming fire. No MRI in towns smaller than 0.5 million (or is it 1 million?), and you'd better avoid going to emergency room of their public hospital anywhere but big cities like Tijuana, Guadalajara etc.

They won't treat you for free unless you are enrolled in this plan. Yes, in public hospitals they will "stabilize" you regardless of your status, if you're really dying, and will do this for free. Meaning, they will "try" keeping you alive until somebody will take you back North, no guarantees.

Food and medications for free? You must be kidding. If you're well enough to eat anything, they won't keep you unless you're enrolled in the plan.

This plan only works in public hospitals, not in private ones.

There is also IMSS plan, more expensive annual premiums though still cheap by our standards, and easier to join than Seguro Popular. More restrictions than Seguro Popular - not everything is covered.

For (relatively) low-cost private plan, you might consider a "catastrophic insurance" like the one sold by Focus on Mexico. It's a group plan, but anybody can join if he lives there 6 months a year. It's an emergency only coverage. It won't cover a condition where you can wait longer than 24 hours without endangering your life or health. Don't know any details or anybody who actually used it. Annual cost $US 1,300, deductible $3,000, coverage $750,000. They have direct payment arrangements with "some" hospitals, but in other hospitals you'll have to pay and be reimbursed later.

Here it is:catastrophic insurance.

Edit - PS: Tequila is right about Geos Alliance - it's a cheap evac plan. As I recall, buying a Spot is not necessary, and they don't cover people over 75 years age.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Patients are accompanied by a policeman wearing a pistol to the business office upon discharge where they must satisfy 100% of the hospital charges before exiting the hospital. This is standard operating procedure all over the country.

This info is derived from multiple personal experiences including an 11-day stay in Seguro Popular involving major surgery.

Senor Mexicowanderer. You are probably a Residente Permanente and a member of Seguro Popular. So your trip with an armed guard to the cashier's office was probably a formality - they checked your papers and said Adios.

What city was it in, and what was the scariest detail that you could share?

There is a private clinic that is quite impressive in Zihuatanejo. There are also several English speaking doctors that are very competent. The name of the clinic escapes me at the moment, it's early morning. However, I went with a friend, as her translator last year when she had a pin removed from her broken leg that was surgically repaired in Tepic. They were exceptional, and relatively inexpensive.
I suggest you follow and ask your questions at zihuatanejo.net. Rob runs a great board. See you on the beach in November!

EVERYONE without Seguro coverage goes to the cajero with a cop. And I am a Mexican citizen. With pasaporte Mexicano IFE voting card, tarjeta socio ejidal de Chucutitan. I am also a member of IMSS in Micoacan with my coverage in hibernation because IMSS does not allow extended stays out of the member coverage area. I'll get to re-initiate coverage without obligatory coverage exclusion when I return.

If you do not satisfy your hospital bill in full you do not leave the hospital. You go to the police station. You need to ask your local hospital about this. Yes it is rude. But yes it is fact.

Worry? Day after day after day, the surgeon kept postponing me saying he was inundated with work. Day after day of suicide grade boredom watching the unconscious patient next to me die of emphysema. Yeah they came in one day rolled him up in the green bed sheet and rolled him out.

The cop stood next to me. Arms folded. After my VISA card payment cleared, the cop asked the cajero if everything was satisfied. The cajero nodded yes. The cop turned to the next person in line, a Mexican lady.

I went outside and found the license plates on my car removed. Two cops immediately appeared. They said I had parked illegally in a blue zone. So I unlocked the door, reached under the front seat and extracted the blue mirror placard. "Esso Es!" they both cried. "We just knew you did not park here intentionally to break the law. They then fetched my license plates and politely fastened them on the car. You know, the plates with the blue wheelchair symbol - sometimes referred to a disabled license plates.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:


Patients are accompanied by a policeman wearing a pistol to the business office upon discharge where they must satisfy 100% of the hospital charges before exiting the hospital. This is standard operating procedure all over the country.

This info is derived from multiple personal experiences including an 11-day stay in Seguro Popular involving major surgery.

Sorry but you've posted this blather before. Let's not exaggerate the issue. The truth is, the social system exists for those who participate in it, either by employer contributions or if one is self-employed pays their share which is minimal compared to other countries.

In many public non-IMSS/ISSTE hospitals, you will be required to pay but the share you pay is reduced drastically based on your ability to pay.

The exaggeration lies in the men with pistols. Get real, they're Pinkerton type guards and if that pistol could fire it would be a miracle. The hospital doesn't operate for free and who would expect it to do so. I don't know if you're a Mexican taxpayer or not and it really doesn't matter but that is who the system is for. Does Canada insure people who work under the table and don't pay taxes?

Last year we had a family member who had no insurance of any kind. The bill was reduced by 70% and we insisted he stay until he passed away from liver disease. Yes we had to pay the 30% and it is only logical, nothing in any country is free. We gladly paid what we owed and yes some people just don't have the money but it is a lesson in life.

Let's set the record straight and not scare people off. Seguro Popular does not cover terminal illnesses including things such as dialysis. The system of Seguro Popular was meant exactly for those who are not formally employed and the amount paid yearly is based on "income".

Also, there is no demise to the IMSS system, it's not going broke but they are making changes to keep it from going broke. Mexico, unlike other countries, attempts to not rack up exorbitant debts.

Talleyho69 wrote:
There is a private clinic that is quite impressive in Zihuatanejo.

The question was about free (or social) medicine.

There are private clinics in any town with population over 10-15 thousand. Some are reasonably priced, some are charging more than in Canada, and some are useless, specializing in minor outpatient non-emergency and cosmetic procedures for bored gringos.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I am also a member of IMSS in Micoacan with my coverage in hibernation because IMSS does not allow extended stays out of the member coverage area.

Aha. This is what I was trying to recall - territorial thing with IMSS. There are also restrictions on pre-existing, and free meds you can only get in their pharmacy (where they might not have something that you need), and gringos not working for Mex employer are not eligible for some parts of the program.

In many public non-IMSS/ISSTE hospitals, you will be required to pay but the share

If you are a member of Seguro Popular, you are not required to pay anything (other then annual premiums that depend on your income). Unless, during you stay in a public hospital, you received services not covered by Seguro. Could be some procedure not covered (most are covered, but not all), or diagnostic equipment that didn't work but it did in a private lab conveniently located in the same building, or something else.

Almot wrote:

There are private clinics in any town with population over 10-15 thousand. Some are reasonably priced, some are charging more than in Canada, and some are useless, specializing in minor outpatient non-emergency and cosmetic procedures for bored gringos.

They might not be bored.

I know many US citizens who travel 1500 miles or more to Mexico for routine dental care, for example, because the cost is so much less.

I am talking about people who are employed full time and are not RVers.

Obamacare is gradually improving the situation for non-dental stuff, but it still does not cover dental very well. A root canal with crown is thousands of dollars, paid for by the patient.