# new IMSS requirement for all workers



## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

It has been at least a couple weeks since I read an article (which I can't locate at the moment) that a new law was passed which requires all employers to provide IMSS coverage for their workers. The article did not go into much detail - but I know I am not the only one aware of this change. My two day a week 'gardener' and I gave the topic 10 minutes or so today. I have two people who regularly come to my house. The cleaning woman comes by one day a week for about 5 hours. She and the rest of her family are covered under ISSTE so she is better off than most (including me).

As I mentioned my gardener is here two days a week and works for another Mexican four days a week. So my gardener and his family have no IMSS coverage. They still use the old Seguro Popular coverage - but as he pointed out today provides no surgical coverage (apparently). So the wife of the other 'patron' is trying to get my gardener's wife IMSS coverage as a titular and then let the family of five pay for their own family coverage. By the way - my gardener's wife works for 5 different people.

There are a lot of aspects about such a new law that may not have been thought out. Like I said to my gardener today - I already pay you well because I want you to be able to purchase your own IMSS coverage if you want to spend your money. He acknowledged that most workers would not pay for insurance. I hope that such a new law doesn't have an affect on Mexico's employment rate.

Any one else see the story I am writing about ?


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

IMSS is a family medical plan. A family can only belong to one plan; spouses can not belong to two different plans individually. IMSS second part employers and employees pay into is IMSS old age pension plan. If an employee has ISSSTE medical through the spouse the employer doesn't need to pay for the families IMSS medical only that person's IMSS pension. ISSSTE pays for employees old age pension which is the ISSSTE pension plan not the IMSS pension plan. Families without either only can use INSABI medical plan a, much inferior plan than was the deleted, by the Morena government, Seguro Popular which covered third teir illnesses. INSABI does not cover them. Patients will have to pay themselves. That is why children and adults have no cancer drugs or cancer treatment now. This is a big deal in Mexico.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I'm sorry Alan but I am a old man and I can't understand much of what you have written. It feels like you jumped all over the place.

Where I live I very rarely hear of insabi. People still refer to it as Seguro Popular. SP used to be means tested but for most it was free. You did have to enroll in SP and you had to renew. I _think_ with isabi you just walk in the door - much like cruz roja except that with cruz roja you must pay 100 pesos up-front (which a lot of people don't want to do). Apparently insabi does not cover surgeries. I do not know if that means they don't do surgeries or if the patient has to pay. I do know people who can afford to pay for care out of pocket yet choose to go to insabi for some reason.

But I will tell you from first had experience - for all practical purposes IMSS doesn't really cover surgeries either. Certainly not in timely manner. The lead time for an IMSS surgery can easily be 2-4 months, and when you show up on your appointed day you probably have a 40% chance of having your surgery put off. IMSS often times does not have my blood pressure medicines. I am sure they are much less likely to have chemo drugs.

I'll be honest - I did not consider at all the pension aspect of the various plans until you brought it up.

I don't understand how ISSTE works. I know a family who are all covered under ISSTE and I believe it was the deceased grandfather who was a government employee. I do know that many people are envious of people who have ISSTE and it would seem that many of the specialists I have seen over the years in private practice are wearing ISSTE lab coats.

Edit : But I guess my original concern was the case where there is a live in housekeeper who is loved by her employers and is often taken to the same specialists as the rest of the 'family' (which happened a lot at the peak of covid). All of a sudden this housekeeper has to be provided IMSS medical coverage ?


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