Healthcare & Hospitals

The single most expensive assumption a newcomer makes: that their home-country insurance covers them here. It almost never does — US Medicare has zero coverage outside the US, and most Canadian provincial plans only reimburse emergencies at home-province rates, if at all. Real local options include IMSS (Mexico's public system, inexpensive but with real wait times), private Mexican insurance (access to private hospitals at a fraction of US cost), and international/expat plans (pricier, but portable and in English, usually with evacuation coverage).

One detail that surprises people: most private Mexican insurers stop issuing new policies after age 65, so if you're approaching that age and planning to relocate, applying for coverage sooner rather than later matters. Standalone medical evacuation coverage is worth having regardless of which plan you choose — an emergency flight home can run well over $100,000 USD out of pocket, and it's one of the few costs a good insurance rider can fully offset.

Star Médica, Centro Médico de las Américas, Clínica Mérida, and Faro del Mayab are the hospitals most used by the expat community. Our full Healthcare guide covers how to actually enroll in IMSS as a foreign resident, the difference between an insurance broker and an insurance agent (it matters), and a vetted concierge option the community already relies on.