Free help with healthcare in Mexico

Coverage and public programs

• IMSS-Bienestar (public health services for people without social security)IMSS-Bienestar gives medical care, medicines and medical supplies free of charge at its health centers to everyone in Mexico who has no social security. It runs the public health services in the 23 states that have joined it.www.imssbienestar.gob.mx
• Preguntas frecuentes (questions about registering, IMSS-Bienestar)You can be seen without registering. The IMSS-Bienestar credential is for people of any age with no IMSS or ISSSTE cover who live in one of the 23 states; registering takes 10 to 15 minutes with your CURP (population registry code), a personal email, your locality and a photo.www.imssbienestar.gob.mx/03_preguntas_frecuentes.html
• Personas Trabajadoras Independientes (IMSS for self-employed people)Self-employed and other non-salaried workers, and Mexicans working abroad, can join the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) voluntarily, paying contributions, for medical, hospital, pharmacy and maternity care for themselves and their spouse or partner, children and parents.www.imss.gob.mx/personas-trabajadoras-independientes
• Trámites del ISSSTE (procedures for public employees and their families, ISSSTE)The Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) covers public employees and pensioners. Its list of procedures includes registering a spouse or partner, children or parents as beneficiaries, getting care at another clinic and booking appointments.www.gob.mx/issste/acciones-y-programas/tramites-del-issste

Finding care near you

• Encuentra tu clínica (find a clinic, IMSS-Bienestar)Search for an IMSS-Bienestar clinic by postal code. Its Centro de Atención Telefónica (call center), 800 298 11 50, answers Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.www.imssbienestar.gob.mx/02_ubica_clinica.html
• Directorio de instalaciones IMSS (IMSS facilities directory)Look up IMSS family clinics (Unidades de Medicina Familiar) and hospitals by state, type of unit or keyword, with their addresses.www.imss.gob.mx/directorio
• Cita Médica Familiar (family doctor appointments, IMSS)People insured with IMSS can book an appointment with their family doctor online, for themselves or their beneficiaries, free and at any hour. You need your CURP, your NSS (social security number) and a personal email, and must be registered with your clinic with current coverage.www.imss.gob.mx/cita-medica
• Sistema de Cita Médica Telefónica e Internet (appointments, ISSSTE)ISSSTE’s system for booking primary care appointments by phone or online. The page links to the booking site for members and to the requirements.www.gob.mx/issste/acciones-y-programas/sistema-de-cita-medica-telefonica-e-internet

Getting help online and by phone

• Contacto Ciudadano (IMSS contact center)Call 800 623 2323 for guidance on IMSS procedures and services, or 800 681 2525 for medical appointments; there is also a chat and help desks in IMSS units. IMSS says these services are free and that it answers requests within 10 working days.www.imss.gob.mx/contacto
• IMSS Digital (IMSS online services)IMSS’s online services and app: get your NSS (social security number), check that your coverage is current, register with or change your family clinic, book an appointment and add or update your beneficiaries.www.imss.gob.mx/imssdigital

Your rights and complaints

• Atención de quejas médicas (medical complaints, CONAMED)If you think you received inadequate care from a public or private provider, you or a family member can file a free complaint with the Comisión Nacional de Arbitraje Médico (CONAMED), which seeks an agreement through conciliation and, if both sides accept, arbitration. Guidance: 55 5420 7000.www.gob.mx/conamed/acciones-y-programas/queja-medica-para-conciliacion-ante-la-conamed
• Nuestros Servicios (what CONAMED handles)CONAMED gives free guidance on the rights of patients and providers and handles complaints about the care itself. Excessive charges, sick leave and other administrative matters, or a request only to sanction a doctor, are outside its remit; its staff tell you where to go instead.www.gob.mx/conamed/acciones-y-programas/nuestros-servicios-43613
• Solicitud de Reembolso por Gastos Médicos Extrainstitucionales (refund of outside medical costs, ISSSTE)If you paid for care elsewhere because ISSSTE refused, failed or could not give it, you can ask ISSSTE to repay the costs, free, within two years, with invoices and a medical summary. The answer can take up to 115 working days.www.gob.mx/issste/acciones-y-programas/solicitud-de-reembolso-por-gastos-medicos-extrainstitucionales-del-issste

Your health records and privacy

• NOM-004-SSA3-2012, Del expediente clínico (official standard on clinical records, Diario Oficial de la Federación)Your clinical record belongs to the institution or doctor who made it, but you have rights over the information in it, and it must be kept for at least 5 years after your last care. A resumen clínico (clinical summary) or other documents from it must be requested in writing.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5272787&fecha=15/10/2012
• Cédula Digital de Salud (your IMSS health summary)In the IMSS Digital app, insured people, pensioners and beneficiaries aged 18 or over can see 36 months of outpatient care: prescriptions, sick leave, lab results and vital signs. You confirm your identity with a text message code, your voter ID card and a selfie. Help: 800 953 0112.www.imss.gob.mx/derechoH/cedula-digital-salud
• Unidad de Protección de Datos Personales (data protection authority, Secretaría Anticorrupción y Buen Gobierno)The federal authority that checks how public bodies and private businesses handle personal data. Its page has the forms to ask for access to, correction, deletion or portability of your data, to ask for its help when a request is not properly answered, and to report misuse.portal-transparencia.buengobierno.gob.mx/proteccion-de-datos-personales/normatividad-en-materia-de-proteccion-de-datos-personales/updatospersonales

Medicines and product safety

• Pacientes / Consumidores (report a reaction to a medicine or vaccine, COFEPRIS)Tell the Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS, the health regulator) about a suspected reaction to a medicine, using its VigiRam app, or to a vaccine, using VigiVac. You can also report by phone on 55 5080 5200 or by email.www.gob.mx/cofepris/acciones-y-programas/pacientes-consumidores-profesionales-de-la-salud
• Denuncia sanitaria (health risk complaint, COFEPRIS)Report online something that puts health at risk, such as conditions at hospitals, clinics or pharmacies, the sale or storage of medicines, or misleading health advertising. COFEPRIS does not handle medical negligence, compensation or medicine shortages at medical units.www.gob.mx/cofepris/acciones-y-programas/denuncia-sanitaria-404568
• Medicamentos y vacunas (medicines and vaccines, COFEPRIS)Check whether a medicine or vaccine has a registro sanitario (authorization to be sold in Mexico) and find COFEPRIS’s guide to spotting falsified medicines.www.gob.mx/cofepris/acciones-y-programas/medicamentos-y-vacunas-403714

Learn it in a session

Free one-hour Reach sessions, each with a take-home sheet for Mexico.

• How coverage works here: Public programs, insurance and what is free at the point of care, explained for the country you are in.
• Finding low-cost care: Community health centers, free clinics, sliding-scale fees, and what to ask before an appointment.
• Reading a medical bill: What the lines and codes mean, asking for an itemized bill, questioning errors and asking about payment help.
• Your health records: Asking to see and copy your records, what the law where you live allows, and keeping them safe.
• Portals and video appointments: Setting up a patient portal, joining a video appointment, and avoiding health-related scams.
• Medicines and costs: Generic medicines, asking what a prescription will cost, and assistance programs where they exist.