SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — With American insurance companies limiting the procedures they can cover south of the border, the number of patients visiting cities such as Tijuana for health care is way down, according to the director of the city’s Convention and Tourism Committee.
Juan Coronado Ruiz says new rules by insurance carriers are affecting both patients and the medical industry in Tijuana.
“Bariatric procedures, for example, are down by 50 percent,” he said. “This is something that harms everyone, insurance companies don’t want to cover anything on the Mexico side of the border and that’s why people are aren’t visiting.”
Coronado Ruiz questions why health insurance carriers have adopted the new restrictions.
“Since the second half of 2023, medical tourism has dropped between 30 and 80 percent,” he said. “There are still people coming for surgeries, consults and prescriptions, but not like before.”
Coronado Ruiz stated some people can pay cash for certain procedures, but major and complicated surgeries require financial assistance from insurance companies, money that isn’t there anymore.
And he says the lack of medical tourism is translating into fewer hotel reservations with restaurants also being impacted.
“Many patients stay here for several days when they have procedures, and some would rather recuperate in a hotel setting under supervision.”
Coronado Ruiz said the medical industry and hoteliers are trying to figure out a strategy to recover, setting “an example for other areas along the border that depend on medical tourism.”
