La Jornada: Private medical inflation could reach 14%: AMIS

Private medical inflation in Mexico could be between 12 and 14 percent for this year, almost three times the estimate of the increase in consumer prices at the national level, which is 4.5 percent, revealed Norma Alicia Rosas, general director of the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS).

In a press conference, in the context of the 35th edition of the Insurance Companies Convention, Rosas maintains that it is urgent to address this structural situation, which has to do with medical inflation.

“Insurers, being the last ones to pay, have to cover a higher accident rate than what could have originally been contemplated. For this reason, we have approached the different elements that make up the health system, such as private hospitals, the Mexican Hospital Association, the Mexican consortium, to see how we can do it to try to contain costs,” he explained.

Pedro Pacheco, president of AMIS, for his part, assured that medical inflation is a very complex issue because it is related to the advancement of technology.

“It is one of the biggest challenges, but not only for the private sector in insurance, but also for the public sector. The health part is an enormous challenge and has many aspects. It is one of the priority issues in AMIS,” stated Pacheco; Hence the interest of the insurance sector in making a good analysis of the initiative regarding medical expenses that was postponed in Congress a few weeks ago.

Rosas added that the concern of Congress is understood when they comment, above all, that older adults could be left without medical care because the costs are excessive when a person is of non-working age.

“It is a real concern and the sector is beginning to offer these coverages with affordable prices, and what this postponement gives us is to continue talking to reduce costs. Some proposals are not viable, technically, because they would damage the mutual benefit, which is also not about affecting young people by caring for the elderly or fully charging the cost,” Rosas explained.

For the insurance sector in Mexico, 2025 was a watershed as it could no longer credit (recover) the value added tax (VAT) on claim payments; as well as an insurance penetration in the country close to 3 percent of the national GDP, Pacheco stated. However, he acknowledged that important challenges lie ahead, such as continuing to expand the insured base; a market for people over 65 years of age and a decent retirement, among others.

At the opening of the convention, Pacheco acknowledged: “some issues were resolved that at one time we saw as a catastrophic scenario, but we reached an event where, with a complex situation, we can still move forward for the good of Mexico.”

It should be remembered that the end of creditable VAT for insurers was made retroactive from 2025 and the tax was not required to be paid four years ago, which would have caused the bankruptcy of many insurers in the country.

“We have to continue growing for the good of Mexico,” Pacheco concluded.