Expired IMSS, Rising Anxiety, and a Trip to the Tianguis

So, on Sunday afternoon I was rummaging through some paperwork and came across a page stamped RENOVACION and noticed a date surrounded with bright orange marker. Hmmm, I thought, I don’t remember paying for my IMSS, so I looked closer at the date. Yep, the time frame to pay my annual fee expired May 31.

First thing Monday morning, I am at the IMSS office in the Hotel Zone, papers in hand, hoping against hope that I have not thrown away my health insurance that I have had for close to 20 years because I forgot to pay it.

I have. I did. At least temporarily.

The kind young woman explained that my coverage had changed at midnight 31 of May to EXTEMPORANEO. which basically means ‘without thought’ or ‘poorly planned.’ Ya’ think? I have prepaid for the coming year, which is still no guarantee that I will be accepted back into the fold.

It will take about a month for my regular clinic to re-accept me (What if they don’t?) and then I will have restrictions slapped on my coverage for the next two years. I don’t know what the restrictions will be yet. Probably like they were when I first joined IMSS in 2007, to cover them in case I lied on my application form. The kind young woman said she would call me to let me know when I can resume my coverage. – with restrictions. So, I said, if I leave here and get hit by a bus, she looked at me with concern and said, “You cannot use the system.”

There are hundreds of people employed at the IMSS office. Every desk is piled high with papers that are worked on earnestly. How will this woman remember to call me?

I have stopped beating myself up, kind of, and now I need to find out if there is such a thing as health insurance for Permanent Residents who are healthy but clearly don’t have a working brain. (Maybe that will be a restriction?). Seriously, whatever happened to fines? Late fees? I would have happily paid almost any penalty. Which brings me to the conclusion: There is no cure for stupid.

So, if you have read this sorry piece of news thus far and have any information on interim health insurance that’s available in Vallarta, I sure would be happy to hear it. Thank you in advance. I will share this good news as well should any come my way.

The moral of the story is, if you have a month to pay a bill, pay it today! Be done with it: remember Murphy’s Law. That puppy is hanging over my head like a guillotine.

Heading to the tianguis in Coapinole today. Sharon Gerber Scherer and I are taking a couple of friends who have never been; newbies’ reactions are restricted to Glee or Horror. Nothing in between.

I’ll have a full report on how it went tomorrow morning.