Mexico operates a public healthcare system known as Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS) which provides universal healthcare to Mexican families and foreign residents enrolled in the system.
Who Can Qualify?
There are two groups of people who qualify for IMSS. The first are people who legally reside in Mexico and are formally employed. If you are formally employed, you should be automatically enrolled in the program, as a small portion of your salary gets deducted to pay for it.
Your employer is legally required to enroll you in the IMSS even though you are an expat. This also applies to employees who have their own private medical insurance. Employers are legally required to enroll for IMSS on their employees’ behalf.
The second group of people who are eligible are those who individually contribute to the program by paying an annual fee. These are individuals who are self-employed or foreigners who have legal residency status, formerly known as FM3/FM2. Visitors in Mexico do not qualify for the IMSS unless they have a legal resident permit.
Expats, self-employed workers, recently unemployed people, and Mexicans who are abroad can receive medical care at the Mexican Social Security Institute by paying this fee.
If you lost your job or you are simply a self-employed worker, you should know that it is possible to have health insurance for you and your family: IMSS modality 33. Here we tell you how it works.
Also known as Voluntary Insurance and regulated by the Social Security Law, it offers an opportunity for legal Mexican residents, self-employed workers, those who recently lost their jobs, and Mexicans who are abroad to access the health services of the Mexican Institute of Health. Social Security. But it has a cost.
How much does it cost to insure the IMSS Voluntary Insurance or Modality 33?
This modality is also known as Family Health Insurance or Voluntary Insurance. Each person and family member can access this benefit by paying annual installments in advance, according to the following costs:
Among the benefits that you and your family can access with IMSS modality 33 are medical services, surgeries, pharmacy, and maternity care.
Preexisting conditions
Some preexisting conditions are not covered and these include malignant tumors, congenital diseases, chronic degenerative diseases, addictions, mental illness, and HIV—among others. If you have any preexisting excluded conditions, you cannot enroll into the IMSS insurance program.
Other specific preexisting conditions are covered on ‘deferment’ and these don’t preclude you for joining the program, but are subject to specific waiting periods before you can seek healthcare services within the IMSS system related to them.
You can see the list of excluded and deferred preexisting conditions on this page
To start the process of your Voluntary Insurance in the IMSS, click on the following link: https://serviciosdigitales.imss.gob.mx/portal-ciudadano-web-externo/home
According to the Government of Mexico: “It is important to mention that (modality 33) only grants the right to receive medical, surgical, pharmacy and hospitalization care; it does not give the right to Infonavit, economic subsidies or disabilities, daycare service, or pension” .