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iggyiggy
Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 5 Location: DF
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 1:50 am Post subject: boring insurance question |
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hey guys ive been reading these forums for a while but this is my first post. apologies if this is an inappropriate forum but here goes...
can anyone help me with my health/travel insurance situation. i live in mexico city and have been so for about six months. my main question is whether is is cheaper to get travel insurance or to get 'expat' insurance or some other form of insurance for someone that will be here for at least a year? if you are not technically a tourist can you be covered by travel insurance or will they just refuse to pay up if something happens?
from what i can see its a lot cheaper to get travel insurance than the other expat insurance options. my initial travel insurance is about to run out and im not sure what type to get. i always get insurance but i have never used it but of course the second my insurance lapses is the moment when some horrible calamity will occur and i will be screwed. any help is greatly appreicated. i hope my question is clear. |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013 Posts: 2006 Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:35 am Post subject: |
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When I was in the Dominican Republic, I bought a high-deductible plan in the U.S. that covered individuals whose primary residence is in another country. The monthly fees, as I recall, were low, and my very few out-of-pocket costs in the DR were so small that I never had to make a claim in the two years that I had the coverage. Then again, I was in my mid-twenties and didn't have any health problems, so that worked well for me at the time.
That may be an option worth looking into yourself. Here's a link to the company that I think I used (it's been over twenty years, so I might be mistaken):
http://www.aig.com/accident-and-health-insurance_3171_586553.html
You might do some Googling and see what other options are out there though.
Hopefully, some of our Mexico regulars will weigh in as well as it's entirely possible that you might be able to by private insurance locally that would be comparable to the type of plan I mentioned above and, perhaps, at a much better price.
Good luck, and please keep us posted on how things work out! |
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BadBeagleBad
Joined: 23 Aug 2010 Posts: 1186 Location: 24.18105,-103.25185
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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If you are working legally your employer should be supplying you with insurance (Seguro Social), though you have to register for it to be covered. If you are on some other kind of visa - NOT a tourist visa - and you are not earning much money, you can also apply for Seguro Popular. If you are just living in Mexico on a tourist visa, then you can't do either of those things. But if you are injured you will be taken to a "Hospital General" in for treatment, typically the closest one. There are also free Red Cross clinics and offer a fairly wide array of services. I knew a woman who broke her collarbone and was able to receive all her care there free of charge. For minor things there are doctors in the Farmacias Similares, Farmacias del Ahorro and others, and even a visit to a "higher end" private doctor probably won't cost more than 300 pesos, and will often include any medications you need. Even if you plan to stay for a long time, you can get travel insurance, because that is what you are doing. As ESL Prof suggests, you can get that incase anything major happens, but rely on local doctors for day to day or more minor stuff. Oh, and there are also some small hospitals run by various Catholic orders that are very good. One of them is this one, I had minor surgery there years ago, and knew someone who had cataract surgery, as well as someone who gave birth there. People come from all over Mexico City and Mexico state, as the cost is very low and the quality of care is very high:
http://www.hospitalito.com.mx/
There are others, but this is the one I knew firsthand |
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Rose Cohen
Joined: 21 Apr 2010 Posts: 43 Location: Mexico
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 1:09 am Post subject: |
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I live in Mexico City. I recently visited a very good private gynecologist and paid $650 for the consulta, which is a decent price for this area. Any medicine I needed I paid for myself, with a small senior citizen discount given at my local Superama pharmacy. Though in the past some doctors have given me sample sizes of medicine they prescribed, I've never gotten it for free. |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013 Posts: 2006 Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 2:07 am Post subject: |
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Are you teaching? Are any of your students working in the medical profession? If so, that sometimes is a source of discounts or, at least, inside help navigating the local health care system if something tricky comes up. |
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