How much do healthcare and medical services cost in San Miguel de Allende?
Eric Chazaro - Keller Williams Allende
I have a lot of experience on the subject of healthcare services in San Miguel de Allende because besides having my real estate company, Keller Williams here, I also run an assisted living here called Cielito Lindo. Just to give you an example, a hip replacement in the US would cost you between US $15,000 and $25,000 while in Mexico, you could have the same procedure at a private hospital here in San Miguel de Allende at about $6,000 to $7,000. As an expat you can get Social Security...I have a lot of experience on the subject of healthcare services in San Miguel de Allende because besides having my real estate company, Keller Williams here, I also run an assisted living here called Cielito Lindo. Just to give you an example, a hip replacement in the US would cost you between US $15,000 and $25,000 while in Mexico, you could have the same procedure at a private hospital here in San Miguel de Allende at about $6,000 to $7,000. As an expat you can get Social Security in Mexico and if you had an accident and needed a hip replacement, you could get it done at a much lower cost. We were able to get a Canadian citizen a hip replacement here for as low as $2,000. Medicines here in San Miguel de Allende cost about the same as in the US but a new law was implemented not too long ago that prohibits you from bringing medicines down the border from the US or Canada into Mexico that was implemented in order to support the local pharmaceutical industry here in Mexico. You can get every single medicine here in Mexico as you would in the US. Unless they are really special medicines, you would normally get them for the exact same price as in the US or sometimes less.
Relative to doctors’ rates, going to a dermatologist would cost you about 500 to 700 pesos (about $30 to $40) for a consultation.
(Assisted Living at Cielito Lindo, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted June 4, 2016
Melanie Lansing - Mexico Insurance Advisors
It is important for people to know that Mexico is a cash-basis society. Most doctors only accept cash payments. Hospitals and clinics accept credit cards, cash, and bank / wire transfers. None offer billing options. An average medical appointment would cost $25 - $30 USD. If you are going to a specialist, it would be $40 -$50 USD. Diagnostic testing costs anywhere between $100 USD and $800 USD, depending on the type of test. A blood test would be...
It is important for people to know that Mexico is a cash-basis society. Most doctors only accept cash payments. Hospitals and clinics accept credit cards, cash, and bank / wire transfers. None offer billing options. An average medical appointment would cost $25 - $30 USD. If you are going to a specialist, it would be $40 -$50 USD. Diagnostic testing costs anywhere between $100 USD and $800 USD, depending on the type of test. A blood test would be about $30 USD.
Most medical insurance plans in the United States such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or other Supplemental Plans require a co-pay. I tell most people that paying out of pocket in Mexico for a medical appointment is similar to paying a co-pay.
Some of the most common injuries in San Miguel are slips, trips, and falls. A large number of expats suffer bone fractures and dislocations every year. Knee replacement surgery using the most modern prosthetics, costs approximately $7,000 USD. Hip replacement surgery averages $9,000 to $10,000 USD.
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(Dr. Claudia Aguilar, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted June 9, 2016
Jennifer Murphy
There is a new healthcare system in Mexico called Seguro Popular. If you have a visa other than a tourist visa, you can qualify for it. It used to be for free and it has just been enforced since President Calderon; maybe over the last 3 years. It was totally free for everybody but now when you renew, you have to divulge whether you have a dirt floor, or an actual floor, or whether you have a car or a refrigerator, but it is still very reasonable. It is a...
There is a new healthcare system in Mexico called Seguro Popular. If you have a visa other than a tourist visa, you can qualify for it. It used to be for free and it has just been enforced since President Calderon; maybe over the last 3 years. It was totally free for everybody but now when you renew, you have to divulge whether you have a dirt floor, or an actual floor, or whether you have a car or a refrigerator, but it is still very reasonable. It is a socialized medical system. If you have an emergency, you just go to the hospital and even if you didn’t have an emergency, you can stay there for a couple of nights and see a specialist and it would just cost you around US $50. It’s unbelievably reasonable.
If you are under a sort of care system with them, you are always waiting for appointments and you don’t see the same doctor twice, as is the case with many socialized medical systems around the world. The average price to see a specialist (for example, I take someone to see a thyroid specialist all the time) is about 800 pesos ($45). It’s also 800 pesos to see a hematologist.
I could get appointments in one day. They have unbelievably good orthopedic care here. I just took a friend in her 80s who thought she had to have a big back operation that was going to be 10,000 pesos ($580) and it turned out being 4,000 pesos ($230) because after the doctor looked at what the problem was, he decided to not put these little gold screws in and sent them all back. I think she stayed 2 or 3 nights in the hospital.
It costs around $45 to go to a specialist. A lot the specialists are in Queretaro and Celaya and each of which is an hour or just under an hour to drive from San Miguel de Allende. Queretaro is filled with hospitals and universities and it is the fastest growing city in the world now, from what I hear. At the moment, its population is probably about 2 million and including the surrounding area, the population would be about 2.5 million. It has industries from Germany, the United States, and Canada. My friends from Canada, who definitely have a lot of money, come and have all of their medical services here in Mexico. My girlfriend in Canada thought that there was something wrong with her knee and she was waiting for an MRI to be done on her knee. I made a phone call and got her an MRI the next day and the appointment was the orthopedic doctor. She was then told that she didn’t need a knee replacement. She paid 2,500 pesos ($140) for the MRI. She was going to have to wait 6 months for the MRI to be done in Canada. The doctor’s fee was only 800 pesos ($45) here. Three hours later, we met up for lunch, and the whole thing was over. The doctor told her what exercises she should and shouldn’t do. She is out of pain now.
There are great doctors here in Mexico. They don’t have to be necessarily trained in the United States. There are also Mexican doctors who have gone to the United States, worked there, and come back. I would say the only barrier for English-speaking patients is that they all think that everybody should speak English to them. If they can just either take a facilitator that is more specifically medically oriented, they shouldn’t worry. One thing to know about Mexico, which I think is actually wonderful, is they always take a friend or a family member along to any medical facility. If you are checking into a hospital, you need to have somebody with you. They don’t have the super heavy nursing staff and in fact the hospitals here do give you facilities to stay the night with your loved one or friend.
(Hospital General Celaya, near San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted October 12, 2016
Clementina Beas
Here in San Miguel de Allende, we have a high level of professional medical services available, which includes general practitioners, medical specialists, and hospital services. We also have highly qualified dentists. People come to San Miguel de Allende for plastic surgery, stem cell therapy, and dental services. The majority of the medical professionals in San Miguel de Allende have either studied in the United States, or speak fluent English. San Miguel is...
Here in San Miguel de Allende, we have a high level of professional medical services available, which includes general practitioners, medical specialists, and hospital services. We also have highly qualified dentists. People come to San Miguel de Allende for plastic surgery, stem cell therapy, and dental services. The majority of the medical professionals in San Miguel de Allende have either studied in the United States, or speak fluent English. San Miguel is known for providing high-quality medical services and care to its patients. They’ve recently added a lot of new diagnostic testing equipment, and a medical office building. A greater variety of medical specialists are coming to San Miguel de Allende to offer specialty medicine to the public here. The doctors are very focused on continuous education and learning the most recent medical techniques and practices.
A medical visit with a specialist doctor here in San Miguel de Allende will cost between US $30 and $40. In an emergency situation where a person were to break their arm, it would probably cost between $1,000 and $1,500. For dental services, a root canal costs about $500, while a dental cleaning costs about $30. A lot of the people who come down here for dental procedures also take the opportunity to visit San Miguel de Allende in addition to getting root canals and other dental services that are more affordable here than in their home countries. They find that the total experience of coming to San Miguel de Allende for healthcare services still less expensive even after the travel expenditures, than paying for these dental services in more expensive countries such as the US.
We have doctors here in town who are specialists in stem cell treatment, are more advanced, and offer up to date techniques and services, including stem cell research. A lot of foreigners come to Mexico to receive stem cell treatment, and they trust that they’re going to receive treatment from doctors who are highly trained and professional.
Although medical costs are less than they are in the US and in other First World countries, it’s important for foreigners who are coming to live in San Miguel de Allende to acquire health insurance because there are a lot of accidents, including injuries, which are caused by walking on the cobblestone streets. Even within the homes, there are a lot of staircases and other features that could cause accidents, so there is a higher than normal risk factor for slips, trips and falls.
Hip and knee fractures are quite common, and although surgery is more affordable, oftentimes the surgery is followed up with physical therapy. This is why it’s important to have health insurance and a company behind you that’s going to help you in these types of accidents, or chronic medical illnesses or diagnoses.
Some of the people who arrive in San Miguel de Allende have cardiovascular issues, so it’s really important for these people to connect with local physicians and medical services, and look into getting health insurance, too.
If your dream has been to come to Mexico to retire, it’s best to protect that dream by purchasing a health insurance plan that will protect you against unforeseen and potentially exorbitant medical costs, especially given that the cost of health insurance in Mexico can be extremely reasonable.
(Lecturers for medical issues sponsored by Mexico Insurance Advisers, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted December 13, 2016
Mary Agnes McKay
Typically, a visit to the primary care physician or to the dentist in San Miguel de Allende costs around US $40 out of pocket. At home, in Pennsylvania, when I’m back there, I pay the dentist and the primary care physician anywhere from US $115 – US $125. The root canal is an example. After I got over the terror of having a root canal treatment in San Miguel de Allende, I asked about the price, and they told me the total bill was US $183....
Typically, a visit to the primary care physician or to the dentist in San Miguel de Allende costs around US $40 out of pocket. At home, in Pennsylvania, when I’m back there, I pay the dentist and the primary care physician anywhere from US $115 – US $125. The root canal is an example. After I got over the terror of having a root canal treatment in San Miguel de Allende, I asked about the price, and they told me the total bill was US $183. My root canal had them take care of three roots, the entire process taking a total of three visits, each visit lasting over an hour, and the crown being put on.
Fortunately, I never had to have root canal done in the US, but people who have had root canal done in the US tell me it costs anywhere from US $7,000 to US $11,000.
Many people who are retired do not have dental or vision coverage. I had cataract surgery in the States before I came back to San Miguel de Allende this last time, and my Medicare and secondary insurance paid for that surgery in its entirety. I have a problem with the surgery- the lens has a crease in it, giving me a straight streak of light down through my sight all the time.
I went to an English-speaking ophthalmologist here in San Miguel de Allende to check the problem I had after my cataract surgery in the US. The total time that I spent in the ophthalmologist’s clinic in San Miguel de Allende was 47 minutes.
The ophthalmologist in San Miguel de Allende I went to talked with me about procedures that I’d had, showed me a video about cataract surgery, and did some examinations with machines. I also explained to the ophthalmologist what the problem was: that the lens had a crease in it, and that she could correct that with a laser treatment.
She said, “You could go back to your ophthalmologist in the States and have the laser treatment done there. You don’t have to worry, it is correctable.”
So I asked her, “What would the cost be here? Since I would have no insurance,” and she said, “It would cost you under US $400- maybe somewhere between US $340 and US $360,” out of pocket. I would not have to pay for the cataract surgery if I have it done in the States, but the laser procedure in the US would be US $1,800.
My dilemma right now is whether to go back to the US and have the laser treatment done by an ophthalmologist in the States that I’m uncomfortable with at this point because he did not do a good job, or come back to San Miguel de Allende and have the surgery performed by a physician who spent a great deal of time with me, and has explained everything to me. It’s probably worth that US $300 to have a treatment done wherever I feel comfortable, which is in San Miguel de Allende.
The doctor here in San Miguel de Allende dilated my eyes, sent me out to the waiting room for a while, and when I went back in, she spent 27 more minutes with me. I’ve never had a physician in the States spend that much time with me at an appointment, which all the doctors here in San Miguel de Allende seem to do. It’s such personal care here- they treat you as a whole person. No matter which specialist I’ve been to, or my PCP (Primary Care Physician), I’m the only one inside the office area when I’m the patient. There aren’t three or four cubicles. Instead, each person was being moved up until it was their turn.
(Woman in traditional clothes, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted December 15, 2016
Judy Newell - Perfect Journeys
A consultation with a top doctor in San Miguel de Allende costs 600 pesos (about US $33). The doctor spends as much time with patients as needed. Our family doctor, Dr. Roberto Maxwell, who is a cardiovascular specialist but serves as a general practitioner in San Miguel de Allende, spends about 20 minutes to an hour with my husband and me per visit. A consultation with a specialist would cost the same, at 600 pesos ($33). (Door to a doctor's...
A consultation with a top doctor in San Miguel de Allende costs 600 pesos (about US $33). The doctor spends as much time with patients as needed. Our family doctor, Dr. Roberto Maxwell, who is a cardiovascular specialist but serves as a general practitioner in San Miguel de Allende, spends about 20 minutes to an hour with my husband and me per visit. A consultation with a specialist would cost the same, at 600 pesos ($33). (Door to a doctor's office in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico taken by Steven Miller, pictured.)
Posted July 23, 2017