# Best Health Insurance?



## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

What is the best health insurance you have found in Mexico for the over 60 crowd?


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Best for me is Seguro Popular. It's free if over 60 but you need a resident Visa


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

sparks said:


> Best for me is Seguro Popular. It's free if over 60 but you need a resident Visa


Things change so I really am not sure - but when we first got here we didn't know any better and signed up for SP - My wife was over 60 at that time. SP really is means tested. Is the floor of your home earthen ? etc.

One thing which was true - for some reason if you are a 'renter' SP is free. I've got a feeling that when that provision was written in they didn't anticipate someone 'renting' for 17,000 pesos/month paying nothing for SP...

If my memory serves - you need a CURP to get SP - and when you go to many government offices you need to have an INE to get a CURP. In reality you can get a CURP for free from INM - but most people are not going to volunteer that info. So - since on the first visit we had no CURP we ended up waiting in the open rain on two separate days to get SP. Never used it. It is good for two years unlike IMSS which is only good for one year. We have met folks who swear by SP - like our VET - who comes from a well-to-do family. But I don't know....

Edit : SP has no rules regarding pre-existing conditions - but at this point I'm not sure IMSS does either. We have borne (?) our souls with the folks at IMSS and they are cool.


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*no mention of sclerosis-related conditions... (SP)*



Gatos said:


> Edit : SP has no rules regarding pre-existing conditions - but at this point I'm not sure IMSS does either. We have borne (?) our souls with the folks at IMSS and they are cool.


So far in everything I've researched, your statement is true regarding pre-existing conditions & coverage by Seguro Popular. I haven't looked as deeply (yet) or found information conclusive about such coverage by IMSS. To be sure, there are people who swear by both systems according to their personal experiences, and some who would caution you away from one or the other based on their own or someone else's testimony.

Because I have been recently diagnosed with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), as I related in a different post/thread, I've been concerned about getting care & follow-up treatment as needed should we go ahead & make a permanent move to Mexico. I just got done reading through all 266 conditions that SP would treat, according to Salud SEGURO POPULAR, and found no mention of treatment for sclerosis-related conditions (MS, ALS or PLS) or for cancer-related conditions. Regarding cancer - yes, they'll detect, analyze & diagnose cancerous growths, but no mention of treating or curing them.

Does this mean that they would refer these to a different system for treatment, as needed - and at no additional cost? I'm also wondering what I'll find regarding the same coverage & treatment in IMSS facilities. What about other Mexican private policies available, such as Plenitus, etc...?

Still searching...


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Howler said:


> So far in everything I've researched, your statement is true regarding pre-existing conditions & coverage by Seguro Popular. I haven't looked as deeply (yet) or found information conclusive about such coverage by IMSS. To be sure, there are people who swear by both systems according to their personal experiences, and some who would caution you away from one or the other based on their own or someone else's testimony.
> 
> Because I have been recently diagnosed with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), as I related in a different post/thread, I've been concerned about getting care & follow-up treatment as needed should we go ahead & make a permanent move to Mexico. I just got done reading through all 266 conditions that SP would treat, according to Salud SEGURO POPULAR, and found no mention of treatment for sclerosis-related conditions (MS, ALS or PLS) or for cancer-related conditions. Regarding cancer - yes, they'll detect, analyze & diagnose cancerous growths, but no mention of treating or curing them.
> 
> ...


I don't know if I would hold it to be true,
but the government announces throughout the radio that SP does give treatment for cancer. (One of the regular radio announcements, actually has a lady giving thanks, talking about how SP saved her life and provided cancer treatment.)

In my state, Baja Norte, SP allegedly uses more expensive treatment than what the federal government allows, and the state pays the difference. Read this from a local newspaper. 

No first or second hand experience from me to validate these claims, but I'd think it to be true.


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## jnettem (Oct 18, 2018)

Indirectly related. It's maddening when someone asks a question and gets back a bunch of acronyms.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

jnettem said:


> Indirectly related. It's maddening when someone asks a question and gets back a bunch of acronyms.


I agree and would suggest that posters not assume that all forum members are familiar with the many acronyms used in Mexico. Please use the full name of the government program, etc. in question (or a brief explanation of what it is), at least the first time the entity is mentioned in a post.


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