Do you carry any type of health insurance in Mexico at all? IMSS, private, etc etc.?

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“He was but as the cuckoo is in June, Heard, not regarded.. - Henry IV, Act 3 - Wm. Shakespeare

another wrinkle is my own. all i have is my VA health care.
i gave up the medicare to save the $95/mo, since i saw no need for it, with the VA.
(this is somewhat off-topic, i guess, since i won't be an expat for a while, but maybe one of you has a similar situation.)
for at least the first year i will be on a simple tourist visa, so i will want IMSS, and maybe more, but atm i doubt it.
there seems to be many here with this in common, meaning using IMSS and the visa.
i'm just wondering, in this situation, is AMA even relevant to me and those like me?
(reminder: my only income is SSDI, so the IRS is not a factor.)

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remember, two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. sometimes you have to go around the block to get what you left behind. happy trails and safe travels, ed.

I am told that IMSS is getting more strict on whom they will cover. Sounds like the old "pre-existing condition" gotcha is gonna get you. Check it out very carefully, the VA may be a better solution.

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“He was but as the cuckoo is in June, Heard, not regarded.. - Henry IV, Act 3 - Wm. Shakespeare

If edgeee is planning to be on a tourist visa for his first year here, he won't be eligible to sign up with IMSS.

I don't have any. NO one will insure either my wife or myself. We both have diabetes.

I don't know about any place else but there is a clinic that will accept VA coverage here in Ajijic. I have no idea what it's called.

I thought Plan A was just given to you at 65. I don't remember doing anything special and I was in Mexico. I was only concerned about being fined, forced to get additional coverage ... or proving I live out of country. At 68 with Medicare it's a non-issue

The term “minimum essential coverage” means any of the following:
(A) Government sponsored programs
Coverage under—
(i) the Medicare program under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act,

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Sparks Mexico Web

I'm in the process of enrolling in Medicare right now. Sparks is correct, enrollment in Part A is automatic at age 65 for those eligible. As an expat (Mexico address on file with SS), I received a form that I could ignore if I did not want Part B, or fill in and return if I did want it. I returned it, so we'll see what happens. My understanding is that Part B enrollment is also automatic for those with a US address on file with Social Security. The cost as stated to me is $99.90 /mo, to be deducted from my SS payments.

Why did you enroll in Part B if you are living in Mexico? Are you planning to return to the States when you need medical care?

Primarily the penalty for late enrollment. If I didn't enroll in Part B now but needed to do so sometime in the future, I'd have to pay a 10% penalty on the premium for *every year* I was eligible to enroll but didn't. I calculated that out for five years, ten years, etc., and it's a whopping amount. In ten years, I'd be paying a 100% penalty.

I have no plans to move to the US, but I can't rule it out, either. The most likely reason would be inability to care for myself here and running out of money to pay someone else to do it. In that scenario, the last thing I could afford would be a higher monthly premium. Who knows, the situation could change under the ACA, but I had to decide based on what I knew at the time.