Obamacare: What Happens If You Live in Mexico?

There are people who think Obamacare is the end of the US as we know it and there are people who think it's the start of a new enlightenment era for the US. And there are those who are somewhere in the middle. However, regardless of what you think of Obamacare, it is now a reality and each individual must adapt accordingly. But what about the Americans who live in Mexico?

One of the most controversial parts of the Affordable Heatlh Care Act is the tax that people will have to pay if they don't choose to obtain minimum health care coverage and if they are considered as unable to have the resources to get said coverage. A person that doesn't make enough money to file a tax return is considered legally unable to pay for taxes and therefore exempt from the ACA. However, that is not the case with the vast majority of Americans who have chosen to live in Mexico.

However, the law specifies that residents in other countries are exempt from the ACA. Obviously, they have to prove that they live in another country. They can do so in one of two ways.

a) To have lived in another country for at least one full year, with no immediate plans to return to the US.

b) To have income from a foreign source and to live at least 330 days out of the US every year.

It doesn't matter what your status abroad is. Once you pass either of these two tests, you are considered a resident in a foreign country and are except from both extra coverage or taxes.

On the other hand, if you are living in another country and do not pass any of these tests, you are not exempt from the ACA and must get at least basic coverage.

Special case: Americans under a US Expatriate Health Plan. Americans who live in Mexico under a US expatriate health plan are considered exempt from the ACA in certain ways. First of all, the exemption is valid until the end of 2015, at which point the government will decide what to do about them (although I suspect it will just extend the exemption, since it would be too difficult to do the tracking and logistics). Also, your plan must cover you at least for 6 months of the plan year. Lastly, you won't get any benefits granted by the ACA, such as coverage for dependents until they are 26 years old, guaranteed maternity coverage, or free preventive care).


If you would like to read more about how Americans who live in the US and have coverage under the ACA are still going to Mexico for health care, go here.

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Robert Ervin is a freelancer who writes about healthcare, medical tourism, and living in Mexico.

If you're considering traveling to Mexico for healthcare or retiring in Mexico, you may want to get yourself a copy of The English's Speaker's Guide to Doctors and Hospitals in Mexico, in order to find a good doctor or hospital in the main towns and cities of Mexico, or The English Speaker's Guide to Medical Care in Mexico, to understand how the Mexican healthcare system works. 

Even with Obamacare, Americans Are Still Going to Mexico to get Healthcare

Regardless of whether you're in favor or against the Affordable Health Care Act, many Americans are signing up for it, but that hasn't stopped several of them to continue going to Mexico for health care.

Despite the increase of people under health coverage, many Americans, mostly from California, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico continue to travel to Mexican cities along the border for health care. However, while those areas receive the bigger influx of patients, some Americans from as far as New York and Washington are flying to central Mexico to get more complex treatments, like surgery (both needed and cosmetic).

Steven Wallance, associate director of the UCLA Center, may have the explanation: "Even with insurance, it can sometimes be cheaper in Mexico." Although more Americans have health insurance now, they save it for emergencies and continue to go to Mexico for regular health care.

Other patients claim that the lower prices are not the only reason. Irma Montalvo, from California, signed up for insurance, but she still prefers to go to Mexico, 16 miles south of her home in Chula Vista. "I can't use my insurance outside of California, but seeing my doctor costs me only $15 dollars and I don't have to worry about deductibles. But most importantly, she makes me feel comfortable."

This experience reflects an aspect of Mexican health care that many Americans appreciate: doctors spending time with their patients and, in the opinion of some, making them feel like people.

"She (the doctor) listens to me," says Montalvo, "I come here feeling really bad and three days later, I am better."

Xochitl Castaneda, director of the health initiative of the Americas at U.C. Berkeley's School of Public Health, expresses it in another way. "Mexican clinics offer something not always found in the U.S., quality (of service) and warmth. When you are sick, you need medical support. You also need emotional support. That is something that Mexican physicians give."

Another cultural difference that Americans are often surprised of is that most Mexican doctors give their patients their personal numbers and they answer them.

But what do you think about the Affordable Health Care Act and the influx of American patients in Mexico? Tell us your opinion in the comments. Alternatively, you can read about how safe Mexico is here or about the experience of an American woman who decided to retire in Mexico here.

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Robert Ervin is a freelancer who writes about healthcare, medical tourism, and living in Mexico.

If you're considering traveling to Mexico for healthcare or retiring in Mexico, you may want to get yourself a copy of The English's Speaker's Guide to Doctors and Hospitals in Mexico, in order to find a good doctor or hospital in the main towns and cities of Mexico, or The English Speaker's Guide to Medical Care in Mexico, to understand how the Mexican healthcare system works.