Healthcare and insurance for residents

Your options for medical care as a resident: IMSS voluntary enrollment, private insurance, and evacuation coverage.

Why it matters

Visitor travel insurance usually stops once you live in Mexico, and Medicare doesn't pay for care in Mexico.

IMSS (subdelegation for your address), your insurer or broker.

What to do: Choose your medical coverage: IMSS, private insurance, or both.

IMSS voluntary health insurance for families (Seguro de Salud para la Familia, "Modalidad 33"): for people not covered by another IMSS regime. Needs a CURP, an IMSS number, ID and proof of address; coverage starts the first day of the following month. 2026 annual cost per person by age (reported): about MXN 9,300 (0–19) up to MXN 20,600 (60–69), 21,500 (70–79) and 22,150 (80+). Serious pre-existing conditions are excluded (for example cancer, kidney or heart failure, HIV, serious mental illness), and waiting periods apply to some treatments.
- Private major-medical insurance (gastos médicos mayores) from Mexican or international insurers; premiums rise sharply with age and exclude pre-existing conditions for a period.
- Medical evacuation or air-ambulance membership to the US or Canada.
- Where care is: IMSS general hospitals and the state public hospitals in La Paz and in the Los Cabos area, plus private hospitals in La Paz, San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. Rural areas (El Pescadero, Todos Santos, the East Cape) have clinics; serious cases go to La Paz or Los Cabos.