Dear Sir,
I am 77 and have lived in Chapala for over 15 years. I have IMSS medical insurance and am pleased with it. I do not have Medicare. I own no property nor financial accounts in the United States. I pay no state income tax since my domicile is here in Mexico. I do file and pay federal tax, but have gotten a refund every year for 15 years. I am retired military but get no health benefits from them although I was promised back when I joined that I would.
I have no other health care insurance except IMSS.
Where do I stand on having to participate in the mandatory participation program (U.S. Affordable Care Act)?
Many American expats now live outside the United States and are in the same position I am, and many more will be.
Would IMSS count as health care coverage for us?
Best answer I have yet is that this part of the law has not been written yet. That has to be a joke!
George Ruwwe, Ajijic
The Reporter asked Puerto Vallarta business owner and economist Paul Crist, also the founder and president of Americans for Medicare in Mexico, for his response.
The Affordable Care Act specifically exempts American citizens living abroad (and that means their domicile of record is abroad, and they no longer keep a residence in the United States) from the requirement to buy health insurance. The ones who may have a problem are those who live, say, in Mexico for six or eight months, but still own a home and use that address as their legal address for tax purposes in the United States. I, for example, am legal resident of Mexico with my FM3, but also maintain a legal address in Washington, DC (and have always kept my U.S. health insurance), specifically because I do go back and forth, although spend much more of my time in Mexico.
Those who live full time in Mexico and no longer have a U.S. address are exempt from the insurance requirement. It’s not clear how this will be ascertained, however. For those such as Mr. Ruwwe, who lives full time in Mexico, still files U.S. taxes (though not state, since he does not live in any U.S. state), it’s not clear what will be required to prove foreign residence and thus avoid the penalty for not buying a U.S. health insurance policy.
So, the answer for those living in Mexico is … it depends. Or, in Facebook parlance, “It’s complicated.”