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When visitors come to Los Cabos, they are thinking about a vacation full of fun at the local beaches and at the resort pools. They are not thinking about having to get medical care.
However, it is a fact a life that many tourists need to visit a doctor during their visit to the beach resort destination.
It is also a sore spot for many tourists in Los Cabos. Just a scan of social media and even comments even right here on the Cabo Sun website make reference to the displeasure of the cost of medical care in the community.
Accusations of being overcharged for poor quality care is a common complaint among most of the visitors to Los Cabos that need to use emergency services.
Recently, an investigation was completed around the prices charged by doctors and hospitals providing this care to visitors to Los Cabos. The results were eye-opening for the industry.
Hospital Investigations
The Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office (PROFECO) was called in by the Baja California Sur legislature to conduct inspections of private clinics and hospitals in the state to verify the high costs of health care often complained about by tourists to Los Cabos.
Deputy Federal Consumer Attorney Edgar Omar Chico Mercado reviewed the medical facilities in Los Cabos and recently released a comprehensive report of the findings to the public.
The investigation confirmed that among the private hospitals in Los Cabos, there are indeed high costs for the hospital care delivered to tourists and locals. This confirms the numerous complaints made by visitors to Los Cabos.
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The report also said that the situation has become worse in Los Cabos since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A conclusion was made that this was due to the fact that many of the hospitals had trouble keeping up with the demand for medical care related to the pandemic and had to, in turn, ration the care using price.
The result, as documented in the report issued by the Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office, was both locals and tourists in Los Cabos have generally been charged double for the cost of medical care and related treatment since the pandemic.
Mandatory Cost Reporting
The Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office has issued a decision that going forward, hospitals and clinics operating in Los Cabos need to be more transparent about the cost of possible treatment and care to patients.
This is in addition to potential additional expenses so that visitors and locals can determine the real price of medical care.
The Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office said in the report that they are fine with the charges being made for service from the private clinics and hospitals in Los Cabos as long as they are justified, fair, and moderate.
Potential For Regulation
The Baja California Legislature took the report one step further and started reviewing the potential to regulate the cost of medical care provided to tourists and locals in Los Cabos.
Several state government officials implied that they felt tourists and locals in Los Cabos were being taken advantage of by the private clinics and hospitals, and action needed to be taken.
The potential for this regulation is currently being discussed by lawmakers in the beach resort community.
What Tourists Need To Know
Tourists really don’t have an opportunity, or desire, to compare prices at private clinics and hospitals when needing emergency care.
However, they should be aware that the cost of medical care in Los Cabos is high, even by the standards of many tourists to the area, and is being reviewed by local officials.
Having travel insurance to cover medical care while on vacation is a good idea for those visiting Los Cabos.
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PMD
Tuesday 16th of May 2023
Did any of the private hospitals pass with fair and equitable prices? Your report was good but offered no real guidance on where we should go if hurt--H+ Hospital? Hospiten??? Amc?? Did the report have rankings for the hospitals? Do the resorts and ambulance services have certain contracts with hospitals--knowing all this from you experts at Cabosun would help much..as we are tourist there often.
If you read the fine print of the travel insurance so going to the wrong hospital and using the wrong ambulance service might mean your bills may not be paid. For Americans/Canadians the bills are billed not from Mexico but the US/Canada--be aware!!