Affordable Healthcare in Mexico

Nowadays you cannot go anywhere without hearing someone talk about the healthcare issue. With this debate fired up in the United States, the option for Americans seeking healthcare in Mexico is making the news again.

On August 14, 2009, Reuters News Service wrote an article about the experiences of retired police officer Bob Ritz. And even though Mr. Ritz has health insurance that covers his medical and dental care in the United States , he still drives every few months from his home in Tombstone , Arizona , crossing the border to the south to take advantage of Mexico healthcare, and avoid the costs not paid by his insurance.

“I pay $400 a month for my health insurance, and it’s still cheaper to come to Mexico,” Mr. Ritz, 60, told Reuters, “I’m very lucky to live near enough to Mexico to get good healthcare at a reasonable price.”

Some making the trek have little or no medical coverage. Others like Ritz are on fixed incomes and want to avoid so-called co-pays and deductibles charged by U.S. insurers on top of policies that routinely cost from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand each month.

“The very wealthy can afford whatever they want, the very poor get it through aid, but the working and the middle-class have to struggle to pay insurance,” said Ritz.

The Reuters also spoke to Beatriz Iturriaga, a 26-year-old mother of two from Eastlake , south of San Diego .

Ms. Iturriaga undertook surgery at a Mexican clinic for $6,500. It would have cost her up to $40,000 if she would have had the procedure done in the U.S.Guy and I have Mexican major medical insurance in case of an emergency. It comes out to 650 USD per year for each of us. We are in our 40s and in pretty good health.

A few years back Guy went to the emergency room here in Cancun with extreme pain on his side. The attending physician gave him a physical exam, diagnosing the problem as a broken rib (that was the last time Guy would play paintball in flip flops). Guy had x-rays taken, medicine prescribed to him for the pain, and he was sent him home with a bill of 100 USD. Not bad! I wonder how much this would have cost him in the States.

-A standard medical fee for a visit with an OB/GYN Physician including the Pap Smear Test runs about 50 USD. -A packet of monthly birth control pills runs 10 USD.

Residents and foreigners will find that health services and care including check-ups, dental, plastic surgery, rehabilitation, and intensive care besides being first class, cost a fraction of what they would cost in the U.S. Some are surprised by the extremely high standards of Healthcare in Mexico , but when they realize that many of the top Mexican medical staff are trained in U.S. universities and hospitals, the reasons become very obvious. Many of the doctors speak English perfectly and they have done post-graduate work abroad.

And the excellent Mexican healthcare system is not just for medical tourism. Many foreigners that buy Mexico Real Estate do so in part because they know that living here will give them easy access to great medical treatment.

There are many private health insurance companies in Mexico which offer policies to foreigners buying property here. The low cost of healthcare, whether insured or not, is one of the many reasons people choose to relocate to the Yucatan Peninsula .

By Yury Di Pasquale

Top Hospitals in Merida :

Star Medica Centro Medico de las Americas Clinica Merida

Top Hospitals in Cancun :

Hospiten Galenia Hospital Americano Ameri-Med

Sources:

Reuters, August 14, 2009, Tim Gaynor,https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE57C40C20090814 Yucatan Living, Medical Care Merida Style, by Working Gringos Yucatan Today, Medical Tourism: Star Medica is Prepared Yucatan Today, Año 23, No. 243, Marzo 15-Abril 14/2009, Healthcare in Merida

To view properties with me, simply email me at: yury@yucatanlots.com

Or Call 1-214-256-3876 U.S. and Canada Line
Or Call 011-52-999-913-8674 Mexican Landline from U.S. and Canada