HEALTH INSURANCE suggestions.

el 11 Marzo del 2026

If there is an "Extranjero" con su tarjeta RESIDENTE PERMANENTE, que vive aquí en Z,
that currently has a Health Insurance policy you are satisfied with,
qué sirve y es funcional aquí en ZIH, please reply.

F.Y.I, please note that most likely, I would need just for "GASTOS MAYORES",
as I can support a large DEDUCTIBLE,
por lo menos equivalenlte a USD 10,000, aproximadamente MXN 170,000.00.
Me: b.1953; good health; Adequate finances.

Gracias.

el 11 Marzo del 2026

If there is an "Extranjero" con su tarjeta RESIDENTE PERMANENTE, que vive aquí en Z,
that currently has a Health Insurance policy you are satisfied with,
qué sirve y es funcional aquí en ZIH, please reply.

F.Y.I, please note that most likely, I would need just for "GASTOS MAYORES",
as I can support a large DEDUCTIBLE,
por lo menos equivalenlte a USD 10,000, aproximadamente MXN 170,000.00.

Gracias.

Most of the health insurance issues depend on your age, health and finances.

We are RPs living in Zihua, 65+ años. We do not have Mexican health insurance, other than IMSS which our residency qualifies us for (which we have never used).

Our Medicare Advantage plan (Aetna) has international coverage for $250k USD We have used it once for a $19k hospital bill. Reimbursed totally. We maintain available credit to pay up front costs.

We are citizens now and have chosen to work within the Bienestar system which will be doing new registrations supposedly starting March 23. We are self insured and very comfortable with that.

11 Marzo 2026
EXCERPT from T. Ho's post...>

....... Bienestar system which will be doing new registrations supposedly starting March 23. We are self insured and very comfortable with that."

Using the MX Gobierno health care system is an option I'm considering. Others have mentioned it (IMSS?), & consider it to be adequate. I will try to go check on the 23rd. Do you know where will the Registrations be conducted?

As far as being "Self Insured", if your personal finances work with that option, good for You. BUT, should you get some unexpected news of some disastorous unexpected heath issue, that could possibly be very expensive, e.g. if being hospitalized is necessary.
A radio show host named "DAVE THE RAVE", of the RELICS & RARITIES 60s show,
recently got his unexpected news of some heart ailment.
He's just starting with the Drs, etc, Final costs & firm Dx are pending.
He thought he was fine, felt great, etc, we never know.

--
jaui

does your medicare advantage plan have a time limit like 90 days outside of US coverage? I have Plan G Aetna and its only good for 90 days out of US

I’m trying to figure out your coverage to see if it would make sense to switch. As best I can tell their regular advantage plans are limited to Emergencies and limited to 6 months. Have you added the “travel advantage rider” to the regular coverage?

The medical stuff here is through Bienestar. They have lots of information on their multiple websites. We have just started to work within the system for the old age pension.

Recently went through one of those heart things, totally unexpected. The costs here were very affordable, at least for now. 48 hour holter monitor with complete follow up and a written report, Cardiologist repeatedly making sure we understood and to call him anytime with any questions of issues, 5,000 pesos. Echocardiologist spent over an hour with us, fascinating. Taught us a lot, again, spent extra time making sure we totally understood everything, then consulted with the cardiologist. Written report. 4,000 pesos. He comes down from CDMX about every 6 weeks.

We are also in a position to pay for whatever comes up. We live here full time, have no ties to the US other than pensions and social security and being US citizens.

I’m trying to figure out your coverage to see if it would make sense to switch. As best I can tell their regular advantage plans are limited to Emergencies and limited to 6 months. Have you added the “travel advantage rider” to the regular coverage?

We talked with our insurance guy to compare Medicare Advantage plans with international coverage. We do not pay anything extra for our plan. It does not cover medivac.

It is primarily for emergencies. He did not mention a 6 months limitation. Seriously, unless we had extraordinarily bad luck with multiple claims, how would they even know?

We kept our Medicare Part B coverage. If a really bad situation occurs, we will go back to the US for treatment. Or maybe choose to leave this mortal coil right here in paradise.

https://www.aetna.com/medicare/documents/individual/2026/eoc/Y0001_H5521_091_PP88_EOC2026_C.pdf

Because we live here full time and have no ties to the US, we opted to just keep Medicare part A, which doesn't cost us anything. Yes, we realize what we did, and are happy with our decision and all it means.

You can reapply for Medi(Don't)care Part B when open enrollment rolls around. However, you will pay a substantial penalty for all the years (or is it months?) that you were out of the system. Hang on a minute ... here it is, straight from the Medicare's website:

If you disenroll from Part B, it may result in gaps in your coverage, and you may incur a late enrollment penalty of 10% for each full 12-month period you don’t have Part B but were eligible to sign up and you don’t have other appropriate coverage in place.

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/cms-forms/cms-forms/downloads/cms1763.pdf

Fascinating. We have regular Medicare. I’m a retired doc and don’t like PPOs and gatekeepers. We do pay an income based penalty which makes it pricey, but it’s fair.

Why would we want to pay for Medicare when we don't live in the US or have any ties to it???

Why would we want to pay for Medicare when we don't live in the US or have any ties to it???

My apologies for any confusion. The information was not posted to suggest that one should pay for Medicare when they are living in Mexico and using the Mexican health system. The information was posted in the event that you or anyone else decided to return to the U.S. and rejoin Medicare. This is not common but does occur when someone develops serious health issues. They will often want to return to be close to family or take advantage of the U.S. health system or both. It is possible but there is a substantial penalty for the years that you were not part of the system. Again, my apologies for any confusion.

Fascinating. We have regular Medicare. I’m a retired doc and don’t like PPOs and gatekeepers. We do pay an income based penalty which makes it pricey, but it’s fair.

I hear ya! Medicare stops at the border so that generous $250k sort of sealed the deal for travel to Mexico and other countries we've traveled
Although we're both permanent residents, we go back to the States for yearly doctor checkups, prescription refills, dental cleanings, etc.

For the first time ever we now buy trip insurance. I set the price at a minimum amount to keep the cost reasonable. It comes with $500K of medical coverage and a million of repatriation insurance.. Unfortunately Washington state only allows once company to sell annual insurance and the medical limits on their policy is only $50K.