Healthcare in Mexico: a policy instead of the CAK, and the age limit you have to know before departure
No CAK route, no treaty contribution: in Mexico you insure yourself — with a Mexican insurer, internationally, or through the voluntary IMSS package with its fixed annual premium and its long list of exclusions. The Mexican insurers take new customers up to 64 years, up to 70 with a medical file, and above that hardly at all. Why the acceptance question comes before every irreversible step.
5 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
In Mexico you are insured with a policy you take out yourself, not through the CAK, the Dutch agency for healthcare in treaty countries. That is why the healthcare paragraph is, with Mexico, not the closing piece, but the gate.
Not because the healthcare is bad: in the big cities private healthcare is excellent. It is because the system is a policy, and a policy has an acceptance. Whoever asks that question too late can have become too old for the plan.
No CAK
Mexico isn't on the list of treaty countries of the scheme for people abroad. So there is no CAK form, no treaty contribution and no right to healthcare at the expense of the Netherlands. Your Dutch basic insurance ends on the day of deregistration, and what applies after that is the policy you took out yourself.
That is a fundamentally different picture from Spain, Portugal or Morocco, and it is the reason healthcare with Mexico sits in phase 3 of the journey, before deregistering, and not in phase 5, after landing.
Three doors
| Door | For whom | The limit |
|---|---|---|
| Mexican policy (seguro de gastos médicos mayores) | whoever lives in Mexico; nationality doesn't matter | new customers up to 64, 65 to 70 only with a medical file, above that hardly at all; existing conditions excluded the first years |
| International policy | whoever leaves above seventy, or wants cover for visits to the Netherlands | wider in age, correspondingly dearer |
| Voluntary IMSS package | whoever has a residence card, CURP and proof of address and no excluded condition | annual premium per age group, paid in advance; insured from the first of the following month |
A Mexican policy. Insurers such as GNP sell a seguro de gastos médicos mayores: cover for major medical costs, with an excess and a co-payment, at private hospitals. Good and by Dutch standards affordable, but with an entry limit:
- GNP takes new customers up to 64;
- between 65 and 70 only with a medical file;
- above that hardly at all.
That is the insurer itself saying so. Other insurers apply their own limits; ask them in writing.
An international policy. Wider in age, wider in cover (often also for visits to the Netherlands), and correspondingly dearer. For whoever leaves above seventy this is usually the only private door.
The voluntary IMSS package. The IMSS is the Mexican social security institute. Its Seguro de Salud para la Familia, the family health insurance, is in the law. Article 240 of the social security law gives "all families in Mexico" the right to sign an agreement with the IMSS. Article 242 lets whoever joins voluntarily pay an annual premium per age group, which the IMSS board may adjust each year.
Foreigners with a residence card get in with card, CURP (the personal population registry code) and proof of address. You can then use the IMSS clinics and hospitals, not the private ones.
The IMSS package: the price and the small print
The premium is per person and per year, paid in advance. The IMSS names the amounts that took effect on 1 March 2026:
- 20,600 pesos if you are between sixty and seventy;
- 21,500 between seventy and eighty;
- 22,150 above that.
That is about a thousand euros a year for someone in their sixties, a fraction of a private policy. The law lets the IMSS adjust the premium every year. So count on an increase every spring, and check the current amount at the counter itself.
The small print is the list of exclusions. Whoever has one of these isn't enrolled:
- malignant tumours;
- chronic degenerative diseases;
- chronic liver diseases;
- kidney failure;
- heart valve and heart failure;
- COPD;
- connective tissue diseases;
- HIV;
- a number of mental conditions.
Other conditions have a waiting period. And the IMSS refunds nothing on an incorrect declaration.
For a healthy couple of sixty the package is therefore a real option, as a safety net or as a base with a private policy on top. For whoever already has something it is no option. You want to know that before departure, not after. Whoever goes to work in Mexico as an employee is registered with the IMSS by the employer and doesn't need this package.
What the healthcare itself is
The private hospitals in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Querétaro reach international level. On the coast and in the countryside the good clinic is further away, and the IMSS hospital is what there is. So where you go to live partly decides what your policy is worth to you.
Dentist, glasses and hearing aid fall outside everywhere. Medicines are cheap and often available without prescription.
The order
- Ask the acceptance question in writing, three months before departure: with a Mexican insurer, an international one, or both.
- Read the IMSS package's exclusions next to your own file.
- Cancel your Dutch policy only once acceptance is settled, and make the end date coincide with deregistration.
- Bridge the gap between the Dutch end date and the first insured day with a travel policy.
- Activate the policy after landing with your Mexican address and your CURP, and find a GP the same week.
A gap between two systems is the most expensive thing that can happen to you in this journey. With Mexico the age trap comes on top: whoever postpones the question until after the move can no longer get the policy.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Mexico or go straight to step 1.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- NederlandWereldwijd — the treaty country list, Mexico isn't on it — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Ley del Seguro Social, articles 240 to 242 — every family's right to the voluntary seguro de salud para la familia, with an annual premium per age group — diputados.gob.mx
- IMSS — enrolment in the voluntary family package, with the premium table and the exclusions — gob.mx
- IMSS — frequently asked questions on the family package, with the annual premiums from 1 March 2026 — imss.gob.mx
- GNP — the acceptance ages of a Mexican health insurance policy (the insurer itself) — gnp.com.mx
Read on
- AlbaniaAankomst in Albanië4 min
Healthcare in Albania: no CAK, the Albanian health fund FSDKSH, a policy for your registration, and 112
Albania is not a treaty country for healthcare: after you emigrate your Dutch basic insurance ends and there is no CAK arrangement. If you work in Albania, you are compulsorily insured with the FSDKSH, the Albanian health fund, for 1.7 percent of your pay. If you do not work, you can join voluntarily for 3,400 lek a month, with a six-month waiting period. To register on your own means you need a health policy in Albania. Outside Tirana, care is limited.
Updated 26 October 2026
- AndorraAankomst in Andorra5 min
Health care in Andorra: no CAK, the CASS for whoever works, your own policy for whoever does not, and one hospital
Andorra is not a treaty country for health care: after you emigrate there is no CAK scheme. If you work in Andorra, you are compulsorily insured with the CASS, for 6.5 percent of your wage; as a self-employed person you pay 22 percent on a base you choose. Through your regular GP the CASS reimburses 75 percent of a consultation and 90 percent of a hospital stay. Whoever comes on passive residence or as a nomad does not pay the CASS and needs a private policy.
Updated 26 October 2026
- BelizeOrientation4 min
Healthcare in Belize: no CAK, an NHI that only buys primary care, and your own policy
Belize is not a treaty country for healthcare: when you emigrate your Dutch basic insurance stops and there is no CAK scheme. Belize's National Health Insurance buys primary care from affiliated clinics, for $ 2 per consultation, but only for people with a valid Social Security card. A QRP member or visitor does not have one, and so arranges a policy themselves.
Updated 19 October 2026