Health Care in Mexico

A lot of friends - knowing I spend most of the winter in Mexico - ask about the cost, the quality and the availability of healthcare down there. The short answer is that it's cheap, it's good, and - depending on where you are - it's also readily available. If you're in a large metropolitan area, like La paz, there's no problem finding treatment right away. If you're in a rural, out-of-the-way village, it could be more difficult.

There are also some real healthcare bargains in Mexico if you're not opposed to socialized medicine, which is so prominant a part of the healthcare debate in the U.S. For a good description of one option, click on the following link: http://www.banderasnews.com/0909/hb-mexhealthcare.htm

Mexico also has an excellent private healthcare system and medical insurance that is available at a fraction of that in the U.S. What makes it so cheap? The availability and competition from the "public option" described in the linked story above.

So, if the costs are less, and the care so good (American health insurance companies now send patients to Mexico for medical care), you have to wonder why we having such a big argument about the public option in this country. Do you suppose it's the $1.2 million per day the health insurance industry is spending to oppose it? Naw, probably not. My guess is that they are just spending money to illuminate the issue. And they are probably sending patients to Mexico for the cheaper treatment made possible by the socialized medicine system in order to keep from overcrowding American hospitals....
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/13/calcostsifornia_health__send_patients_to_mexico_facilities/for