Turning 75 Soon? Health Insurance in Mexico Myths

The day and age of expat forums on Facebook is a blessing and a curse at the same time. The blessing is the availability of thousands of people’s experiences living in Mexico and sharing their tips. For free!

The curse: that even with the best of intentions, wrong news travels fast. Leaving you with doubts and making important decisions with bad information.

Myth #1 About Health Insurance in Mexico

Let me explain: I have recently seen a few retirees living in Mexico decide against getting private medical insurance because they have read somewhere or have been told that after reaching a certain age, the insurance company will cancel their policy. As a result, they will have to pay for medical expenses on their own. Of course, that makes a policy not attractive because we usually need health insurance the most as we age. You also need a policy that can give you peace of mind about receiving quality medical care no matter your age.

If private health insurance policies expired when we got older, it would make no sense to buy one at a certain age, and it would be much better to save that money to use later. Fortunately, the reality is that health policies in Mexico are NOT canceled after a certain age.

Unfortunately, wrong news travels just as fast as the correct news. Sometimes wrong news travels faster since it is deemed controversial and gets people talking. So how can you protect yourself? Verify the source and the information you are reading before taking it at face value.

Additional reading: Healthcare in Mexico 5 Things You Should Know

Myth #2 About Health Insurance in Mexico

Another myth is that if you have a lot of claims, your Mexican Insurance Company may decide to terminate your coverage. That is also not true. Companies are required by law in Mexico to continue with the payment of claims they make and up to the limit contracted in your policy.

In fact, most insurance companies have a clause that guarantees the following:

Guaranteed Annual Renewals

At the end of the term of the insurance stipulated in this contract, the Policy will be understood as renewed for a new period of equal duration- meaning that it is understood that once your policy reaches its renewal date the insurance company assumes you will renew it. As long as you have paid for your premium in time of course.

But that doesn’t mean an insurance company can’t cancel your policy. There are some valid reasons why companies can cancel a Mexican Health Insurance policy. Some of those reasons are:

• You didn’t pay your premium on time
• Your policy has exhausted all of its coverage with you- meaning you have reached your coverage maximum. This is very uncommon by the way.
• You omitted important information at the time of contracting the policy and the company decided to terminate your policy. That’s because pre-existing conditions are usually not covered in most cases.

So How Did People Get This Wrong?

How someone got this information so wrong, is beside me. They may have been looking into something known as travel insurance with medical coverage. Which is entirely different than health insurance.

And that’s because travel insurance with medical coverage, also known as Travel Medical Insurance can actually cancel your policy after a certain age. These are often confused with health insurance policies. But they are entirely different and knowing the difference can really save you time, money, and surprises. 

If you want to know more about the differences between travel medical insurance and major medical insurance in Mexico, we have a few great recommendations for reliable and affordable health insurance in Mexico. It’s included in our COMPLETE Mexico Relocation Guide

And remember earlier when I emphasized you need to verify the source of the information? We at Mexico Relocation Guide verify and fact-check the information we publish about healthcare on our Mexico Relocation Guide and on our website through a licensed healthcare broker in Mexico. That way you know the information is accurate and you can trust what you learn from us.