Voluntary health insurance receives little interest

Mexico´s social security agency, the IMSS, has signed up only 438,224 affiliates for its voluntary medical insurance policy since it started offering coverage six years ago, local daily Reforma reported. The insurance is targeted to informal sector workers who are not formally affiliated with the IMSS, as is the case with contract workers whose employers pay their monthly contributions to the agency. The IMSS charges 940 pesos (US$90) a year for affiliates ages 0-19 on up to 2,470 pesos for clients 60 and over. Healthcare specialist Gustavo Leal of Mexico´s UAM Xochimilco university told the paper the number of insurance affiliates is limited by the IMSS´s lack of infrastructure. The future of the IMSS has been called into question due to its growing pension liability with its workers. According to an internal study, in 20-years time virtually all of the agency´s resources will have to go to employee pension and healthcare obligations.