Last word on IMSS health insurance?

[laconstance]

Doyle, your post about your experience applying for the IMSS insurance gave me more than a few giggles. And the article you posted was very good and helpful, though some of what it says differs from my experience. Here's my experience.

I applied for the IMSS insurance on October 27 last year, and the coverage was effective on November 1. Because I came with all the needed photocopies, documentation, and photos, the entire application process took under two hours, including a run to my bank for cash and a run to HSBC to pay the fee. I was amazed. I live in the Centro and was assigned to the IMSS clinic across from Teatro Principal, and IMSS hospital at Cantador Park. Perhaps my experience will be of benefit to others in the GTOlist.

So, here is what you need to sign up -- bring copies the same as you do for an FM-3 or FM-2.

1) Acts de nacimiento original y copia de todos los integrantes (de devuelve el original). (I gave my FM-3 and passport and INAPAM card for this; I had an apostille copy of my birth certificate, but they weren't interested in it)

2)dos fotografias de cada integrante (infantil) (You can get 6 color photos for practically nothing at any of the photo shops in the Centro)

3)acta de matrimonio (esposa o esposo) (This is if you and a spouse are applying as a family. This could be tricky because you may need an apostille of your marriage certificate, and a certified translation into Spanish. Might be less hassle to apply as two individuals, though I suppose it would cost you more.)

4) llenar y firmar cuestionarios medicos de cada integrante (This is the questionnaire you get from the lady at the desk)

5) comprobante de domicilio (utility bill or some such. They selected my CFE bill from the array I offered)

If you apply as a sole person, you will need a letter saying that your application is for you alone. Here is the wording (change the date, and add your full legal name below the signature):

INSTITUTO MEXICANO DEL SEGURO SOCIAL

GUANAJUATO., GTO. 27/10/2009

Por medio del presente, solicito se me autorize la compra del seguro de salud para la familia, solo para mi persona, asi mismo manifiesto -- que no cuento con ningun familiar que incluir.

A T E N T A M E N T E.

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You go to the Social Security office in the Casa de Moneda on Sope?a. Hours are 8 AM to 2 PM. The office is straight back from the security guard, and on the right. The person you get the application from is at a desk at the back of the area behind the two windows to the left of the door into the Social Security office. The application has to be made in triplicate. It is very simple, and asks some basic medical information. One page. Then, you present your application and supporting documents to a person at one of the two windows -- I had the woman at window #2 who was so nice I felt like hugging her when it was all finished! She types and verifies and stamps, and sends you upstairs, through the arched doorway, for more paperwork, this in quadruplicate! The nice man there then told me to take the forms to the bank (HSBC or Banamex) and pay (for me, at my age, it was 3211 pesos). I went to the bank, where they accepted my cash, stamped everything, and gave me three copies back. I took those copies to the nice man through the arched doorway upstairs, and he gave me some papers to take back downstairs to the lady at window #2. She gave me copies of the documents for my files, and also a medical form and an appointment/explanation page to be placed in my very own booklet at my first visit to the clinic.

It was so simple! BUT, you are not finished yet! Next, you have to get your booklet. For this, you go to the clinic. (Take a rest, and do this another day.) At the clinic across from Teatro Principal, you go up the big staircase, then straight back toward the front of the building. There is a young lady who sits at a desk behind what appear to be cupboard doors -- you would never know she was there -- I think the cupboard opens at 9:00 A.M. She will issue you a booklet, color coded as to your age. You take your book with you to all visits and appointments. Your booklet says which consulting room (thus, doctor) is yours, and the time of your clinic visits.

The next step is an examination to establish your baseline health. My assigned clinic time is 8:00 A.M., so for my first visit I got there (another day) about 7:30. Somehow, everyone waiting seems to know who is just ahead of them and when the desk opens, the people line up in exact order to present their booklets. On my initial visit, I was referred to a consulting room where two delightful female med techs (or nurses) gave me a pretty complete medical exam, took vitals, gave me a flu shot, and made note of my vaccinations. (I carry an International Vaccination Certificate in my passport, and they copied the relevant information from that.) Then, I was told to come back at noon to see a doctor on the first floor (not my regular doctor). This doctor asked me the usual questions about illnesses, diseases, and medications. My only issue was arthritis, and the doctor decided to order X-rays of my gnarly fingers. I was sent upstairs where the X-ray guy operated out of a tiny space behind another office. He completed the X-rays right then and there. I took them back to the doctor, and he told me to bring them back to my regular doctor on the first visit. Then, he gave me an order for complete blood work which was to be conducted at the IMSS hospital at Cantador Park.

Some days later, I went to the IMSS hospital to get an appointment for the blood work. I arranged it so that the appointment would be in January when I returned to GTO from Christmas vacation. In January, I showed up at the hospital for the early morning fasting blood draw, and as instructed, I also brought a jar of the first urine of the day. If course, there were waiting lines and masses of people waiting in the hallways. The M?xicans do excel at handling huge numbers of people efficiently! I was in and out of there in about 20 minutes.

The results of the bloodwork are sent to the clinic in about five days, after which you make your first office visit with your assigned doctor.

Well, that's all I know. Like so many things in M?xico it seems daunting until you actually do it. Since then, I have visited the clinic a couple of times for minor issues, receiving both doctor consultations and medications without further cost. Even without an appointment, I have never had to wait as long as I routinely cool my heels in a U.S. doctor's office. I like the M?xican IMSS system; it seems to me that it is public health care as it should be practiced.

Constance