Health & Safety in Mexico

You are living in Mexico and your health insurance is…where?
By Miranda Nadel

Maybe you have Medicare coverage in the United States. Maybe you even have a Medigap policy. So, you feel protected? You may have discovered already that Medicare doesn’t cover you when you are outside of the United States. It used to be that Medicare would pay for accidents and emergencies during your first 60 days of travel outside the US, but that policy changed several years ago.

So you are living here with medical insurance in the United States. Ah, but you looked into evacuation and you feel that will take care of getting you back to the US should you have need for medical care. And you may have purchased that insurance.

No one knows what kind of medical emergency one might have in the future. An emergency room doctor in Columbus, Ohio gave me the following list of conditions that require immediate treatment, common life-threatening medical situations that require intensive medical intervention within what is called the “golden hour.” These 60 to 90 minutes are barely enough time for a stricken person to call the Red Cross paramedics and make it to a local hospital.

You would not be able to get to any hospital in the United States if you were experiencing any of the following.

Severe trauma, such as a punctured or torn lung, ruptured spleen or liver, brain hematomas or any other trauma leading to severe hemorrhage.

Heart attack: The blocked artery needs to be opened within 90 minutes.

Respiratory failure requiring intubation (a tube put down the windpipe), like in severe asthma or emphysema.

GI bleeding, such as a bleeding ulcer.

Anaphalactic shock: Death can occur within an hour from a simple bee sting if one is allergic. Peanuts are another common culprit.

Severe upper respiratory obstruction as in a bolus of food that goes down the trachea instead of the esophagus.

Dissecting aneurysms of the chest or abdomen. The aorta is the largest artery and when ruptured can lead to death within an hour.

Spontaneous brain hemorrhage: An aneurysm bursts leading to death within an hour or less, commonly due to hypertension or aneurysms.

Cardiac tamponade: The heart leaks blood into the sac around it and basically strangles the heart muscle so it can’t contract.

Pulmonary embolism: A blood clot goes to the lung; usually comes from the legs or pelvis.

Strokes are not usually lethal, but can be if severe. Some clot busters now available can mitigate the damage.

Having been involved in a near-fatal auto accident and needing extensive care, I personally know what a completely unexpected emergency means. For that reason, I want to have medical insurance where I live. My biggest problem is discovering that most Mexican insurers will not accept applicants over age 65.

I have met with Carmen Rivera Rio Rocha who, last April, began investigating a group health policy specially tailored to the needs of foreign residents of San Miguel. Rivera is an insurance agent with Lloyd’s of London, GNP, the largest Mexican insurance provider, and AIG. She is willing and eager to assist us in this regard.

If this is a plan that would be of value to you, you can call her at 044-415-113-9774.

Miranda Nadel “retired” in San Miguel 18 years ago when she began teaching international folk dancing, co-founded the Yoga Co-op and led the Jewish Community. Now, she has a house called “Libre Al Fin” and she’s discovered what retirement really means.