Health Insurance Being Offered for Free in Mexico for Travelers
Friday, July 31st, 2009
According to the article “Mexico Unveils New Travel Health Insurance Scheme to Win Back Tourists” by Karen Elowitt for petergreenberg.com, Mexico has made a bold move towards winning back tourists after the stigma of Swine Flu has left the country struggling. Mexico will be setting up a unique health insurance plan which will be available for tourists in the case of illness free of charge.
The program is called the “Tourist Assistance Card” which can be accessed by contacting a toll-free phone number which connects them to a multi-lingual call center. There may be applicable deductibles and patients will have to get treatment from authorized hospitals.
The health insurance is being offered by a private company called MAPFRE and it will be available for any type of medical emergency from car accidents to the flu. They will also offer additional assistance to those who have lost their passports or who need traveling advice. It is still to be determined whether or not this generous offer will lure enough tourists back to Mexico to save their economy, but it’s a creative solution that could work.

Reuters is reporting that Healthbase Online, a medical tourism facilitator, is engaged in a pilot program with Wellpoint to provide global health care coverage to Wellpoints members in Wisconsin. Healthbase’s involvement in the pilot involves setting up all the medical & travel logistics.










