Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has issued a landmark decree to establish a Universal Health Service, initiating a process to ensure all 120 million citizens can access any public medical institution. The first phase begins April 13 with the rollout of a new Universal Health Credential, starting with citizens aged 85 and older. This unified digital and physical platform aims to eventually streamline care across facilities like the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), and IMSS-Bienestar.
They were pretty close to that anyway. Pharmacy drugs are very inexpensive there, which is why Americans would cross the border to get them from their doctors.
I spend lots of time in Mexico and generic drugs are mostly dirt cheap. Name brand drugs that don’t yet have generic equivalents are a different story. They may be 1/3 or less than their U.S. price and affordable for Americans, but hundreds of dollars per month is still out of reach for most Mexicans.
That makes sense. I’m speaking for a few people I know that got their medicine from there. One had a treatment and it only costed 5 bucks from a licensed doctor. How are the hospital fees?
Don’t know about hospital costs, but lab costs are cheap and we have blood tests done in Mexico without hesitation. A test might run $9 for the exact same test that is a couple of hundred when done in the US. The $5 doctor visits are for doctors connected to pharmacies and are great for simple things. For anything more complex you’ll need to find another doctor with a regular practice, but even a visit with a specialist was less than $50 a couple of years ago.
Reading the article, it sounds like they are consolidating a few existing umbrellas under one that covers everyone.
Ultimately, as long as they have the resources to fund the remaining people who were falling through the cracks before, this will be a good thing. Having one system reduces some of the bureaucracy of multiple similar systems, and people are more likely to get care once everyone is familiar with the universal coverage. Both of those things will save resources in the long run + make the community healthier