A Voice From Oaxaca

Medical and Dental Treatment and Coverage in Oaxaca

By Alvin Starkman © Alvin Starkman 2008

Our personal experience with emergency treatment over the past ten years has been nothing but positive.

When I first gave up the practice of law in Toronto in favor of early retirement in Oaxaca, I assumed that the years I would add to my life by leading a much more stress-free existence in Mexico, would be lost by the inferior health care system to which I would be exposed, subjected and restricted. This is my assessment of the extent to which my presuppositions have been accurate, together with information and advice for both vacationers to and would-be expatriate residents of Oaxaca.

Aside from the small, private hospitals, often referred to as clínicas, there are four publicly funded and insurance-based hospitals in the city, as well as a hospital just outside of the city offering specialized treatment for a number of serious ailments. There is the Red Cross facility available to all, often used for emergency treatment only. The civic hospital provides free services or treatment at a modest cost based on a sliding scale respecting means. ISSSTE is a federally funded facility restricted to government employees who are members of a union. Finally, there is IMSS, a federal insurance program available to expat residents and Mexican citizens alike, with an extensive network of clinic doctors and a large hospital. Its funding is provided in large part by business owners. Aside from these hospitals, there are several, small, easily accessed clinics scattered throughout suburban and rural neighborhoods.

 

For the vacationer, and the expat with a VISA permitting residency in the country, the most common means by which to obtain emergency treatment is through the Red Cross, IMSS (which accepts patients without coverage on a pay-per-service basis) or a private hospital. However, the last of these three is the only one in which you can be reasonably reassured of being attended in a timely fashion by extremely competent and efficient personnel.

What To Do As a Vacationer

If you do not have out-of-country healthcare coverage, by all means go out and buy it before leaving for your trip. However, it's advisable to first inquire of your credit card company, to ascertain if in fact you already have at least some coverage simply by virtue of, for example, having a gold or platinum card. You can then make a more informed decision concerned whether or not to purchase coverage and, if so, at what level. On the other hand, a broken leg, gastrointestinal problem or other non-life threatening ailment can be attended by a private doctor or clinic without breaking the bank. Of course for an outlay of more than $100, it's nice to be reimbursed.

If you intend to make a claim to your private carrier, credit card company or government-funded health care plan...

Purely Elective and Cosmetic Procedures

Over the past several years, Oaxaca has become a popular destination for Americans and Canadians seeking both plastic surgery and extensive dental work. Word has spread of the competence and quality of work of both nip-and-tuck and dental surgeons, and of course of their extremely reasonable charges relative to those paid to hometown practitioners. Many foreigners, as well as Mexicans from Mexico City and other regions of the country come to Oaxaca for face lifts, breast reductions and augmentations, liposuction and other appearance enhancing procedures. A friend had plastic surgery in Oaxaca by a well-known plastic surgeon a couple of years ago. She recently commented that she had read an article in a Canadian magazine indicating the cost for the same procedure that she had performed for $500, was $3500 to $5000 at home. In effect, she had a free trip to Oaxaca, and returned home with extra money in her pocket.

Our personal experience with dental treatment has been extremely positive. Cost tends to be about a third to a half of U.S. and Canadian prices, for example, for crowns and bridges, implants, root canals, gum and bone work. While the use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) has not yet arrived in most Mexican cities, a dentist with a gentle touch can more than make up for that lack of a temporary high while in the chair.

Resolving the Ex-Pat Conundrum

Get whatever coverage is made available to you both in your homeland and in Mexico, subject of course to affordability.

To my thinking...

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Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast.

Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement.

He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004.

In his spare time Alvin leads private, small group tours to the craft villages, towns on their market days, ruins and other sites; writes articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca; translates from Spanish to English for a local newspaper; and writes a legal column for a Canadian national antiques newspaper.

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