I've been slack and haven't really looked into health insurance here yet, does anyone know of a good company that has a wide range of cover from general health checks, private hospital and emergencies? :umbrella1:
AXA and IHI are two possibilities. My wife has the former, and I have the latter. We wish we didn't feel we need this: most expats we know do without insurance of any kind, trusting to god and luck. We're probably over insured, having these private insurance policies, as well as IMSS, a program of Mexican Federal Government health insurance- which covers everything for a very modest annual premium, but at a lower level of care than can be had when money is no object.
Thanks V, I have always had top health insurance. don't want to take anything to chance. Ill look into the ones you suggested, I'm not too keen on the idea of having to use social security.
We use gnp seguros national freephone number 01 800 001 9200. There is no way I would live here without insurance. Good luck Tracey
How does the insurances work here? For instance I was in the States and someone said they pay monthly and they have a like a certain amount a year (say $1000 US) that they pay in doctors fees before it kicks in, then everything after that is covered. That seems like a good insurance because in the states, if you have kids i'm guessing you'd easily spend that with doctors visits alone. I remember getting a quote here a few years ago and they wanted like 4000 pesos a month for the four of us and they said it covered any hospital visits from 6000 pesos upwards, so you always pay an excess of 6000 or at least that's what i thought they meant or would that be out of the year, so you pay the first 6000 and then everything after is covered? If that was the case then i'd take the kids to the Paedatrican at Galenia once a month and that would make it worthwhile alone but i don't think it works that way? We have IMSS but I can't handle going to queue up at 6am to get an appointment at 12pm and spend half may day in the sweaty IMSS fighting people for chairs, never would i get that much time off just to have an appointment. Although it certainly beats trying to find space between the people literally dying on the floor of the General hospital waiting room (shudders, "never again sam").
Sam: Your info is somewhat different then what really happens in the US. If you have health insurance you have two options. One is a plan where you pay a set fee for each office visit with doctors who participate in a plan or one where they do not. The first option is the cheapest out of pocket since in those cases the payment is say $5-25 per office visit depending on the doctor or specialty of the doctor. The insurance company pays the rest based on an agreed amount with the doctor or facility. The same goes for the prescriptions. The second option with plans is that you pay a deductible per each calendar year of say $100-1000 or more and then 10-30% of the bill based on what the insurance company deems as the standard for the area. So for example in this case your medical bill is $350. The deductible is $100 which leaves $250 for you to pay. However the insurance company pays 80% of this which is $200 and the balance of $50 is your responsibility if the insurance company finds that this is the acceptable fee for the service in the area you live in. However say the insurance company says that you should have been charged $150 for your area for the doctors service. Then you pay the $100 deductible and the insurance company pays $40 and you pay the balance of the bill whatever it may be to the doctor. This type of payment gets capped out each calendar year at a certain amount so each calendar year you pay out of pocket an amount set by the insurnace company which can range from $5-10,000 or more. Of course the co payments, deductibles and out of pocket expenses vary depending on the insurance you may have. And depending on your employer you may have to pay for portion of the insurance as well from each paycheck. Very few if any employers offer this for no out of pocket expense for you for the insurnace payment. As for the co pays and out of pocket expense all companies have some sort of amount you have ot pay no matter who pays for the insurance. I have not heard of any company that offers totally free insurance to their employees in any form these days. I am sure some do exists where the employees pay nothing but that is a very few, probably under 100 companies in the US that still do this. Now with that said I am certain this is absolutely not the same in Mexico. If anything I bet they want you to pay first the entire bill and then they may reimburse you for some portion of it. So much for universal health care in Mexico or any country outside the US. And heaven spare us for trying to copy the plans in other countries to bring to have health care for everyone in the US. Bad enough we have to live with the above process, imagine if the Govt. sticks their little finger into the mess.
Hehe, back home I bring my ID, walk into any hospital/clinic, then either stay the night(if required) or walk home. No cashiers in sight - nada. This also worked when I lived in Australia: Showed my passport, in, treatment, out. Done. Too bad we dont have the same agreement with Mexico...
This is exactly what Americans want, but due to the government screwing it up it will never happen. As long as the government sticks its fingers into the health equation the US will never have healthcare as simple as the rest of the world.
gabesz: I dont get it: Why dont you guys just "copy" it from us, France or some other country where it works? We have had it since I was born(probably before that) and Ive NEVER had to pay a single bill, regardless if it was an emergency, surgery, vaccinations etc. Yes, back home we pay high taxes, but we also get a LOT for the money we pay, but we also get a fairly large tax-back every August/September. Even with high taxes, it will never be as high as what you guys pay for surgeries etc. Its like you guys are trying to re-invent the wheel, whilst you could just "copy" it. Ours isnt what it used to be, thanks to the "Alliance"(right wing capitalists, Christ Democrats and Center Party), but its still better than many countries. Just wish they would include Mexico in our plan so that I could waltz inside Galenia with my passport, haha
So what happens when you you go and get treatment in Australia, their government/health care programme pays for it? I take it they don't send Sweden a bill I don't think Britain has a plan like this, be good if they did. This is all included as part of you just being Swedish, you don't have to prove you paid a tax every year, like the NI contribution you are supposed to keep up paying in Britain to continue to be covered when you go back? Does anyone know how the insurance works here in Mexico please? Do they just cover a percentage of any trips to the doctors that cost more than the excess? I'd like an insurance where I know we can all go to the doctors without having to worry about how much that or the medicine is going to cost us and know that if one of us needs surgery, we are covered for at least the majority of it.
