I want to know specifically do they have social security numbers? are they issued birth certificates? is health care provided for them or do they have to have and insurance provider like we do? is higher education provided? if not do they offer financial aid like we do? Do they have a president or a prime minister or what?
Welcome to the SDMB, I guess.
Umm, Mexico, the last time I checked, is an industrialized nation with a president, where most of the population is born in hospitals (run by the government), and given birth certificates.
The country even has such amenities as schools, universities and the like.
Having some fears about the United States’ neighbor to the south are we?
Either that or there are bill collectors at the door and he
is looking for a place to run.
By the way, it is Presidente Fox.
Certainly they don’t have social security numbers, excepting those who have worked (legally) in the United States. Being Canadian, I have a Social Insurance Number (also nine digits, but we have a checksum!). It’s great when the bank teller asks, “Your SIN, please.” Some day I’m going to answer, “Avarice. Next question?” What I’m saying is, there might be some Mexican equivalent to SSN’s, but it ain’t the same thing.
Having lived near Mexico for a little while, I can answer a few things, and fight a wee bit o’ ignorange.
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There are birth and death certificates, issued by the appropriate state.
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The president, Vicente Fox, is elected for a six year term. Once his term is over, he can’t run again.
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The health care system includes both private practices and a nationalized HMO. The public clinics are similar to Kaiser Permanente centers in the U.S.; check in, wait, and you’re assigned a doctor. The quality of basic medical care is excellent (do you really need a Harvard graduate to give you acne medication?), but don’t expect U.S. level amenities; i.e. luxurious waiting rooms, six month old copies of Highlights magazine, or specialized care for obscure ailments. Mexican pharmacists have powers similar to their counterparts in Europe; they can prescribe medication.
FWIW, Mexican television stations (the “X stations,” not Univision and the like on this side of the border) seem to broadcast an ENORMOUS amount of health and medical related PSAs, mostly from various government agencies. Imagine all the anti-drug, anti-DWI, and anti-smoking PSAs in the United States, and multiply the airtime by three or four. There’s a STRONG emphasis on prevantive medicine, and plenty of “La Leche” spots promoting breastfeeding.
- There is a national voter registration system. A Mexican voter ID looks similar to a U.S. driver’s license – a picture and an ID number on a tamper-proof plastic card.
You Canucks have all the luck!
Er, “Canuck”, that’s cool. right? Bogie called himself that in the African Queen.
As far as education is concerned, public education is free, and higher education at the university level is quite inexpensive and government subsidized. However it is also often overcrowded, schools often have seperate morning and evening “shifts” for instance, and equipment must be shared by many students. Of course many middle and upper class students go to private schools which do not have these inconveniences.
According to the United Nations Development Programme’s “Human Development Index” - a composite of all the factors mentioned in the OP, Mexico ranks #51 in development, between Latvia and Panama.
http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/indicator/indic_10_1_1.html
And the executive branch is a straight presidential system - no prime ministers.
In Re: the health care system do bear in mind that just as in the USA there are impoverished rural and inner-city areas where access to a basic-care facility may be a problem, even if the facilities themselves are adequate.
And a lot of old (born at home w/midwife, instead of at hospital w/ObGyn) people from the aforementioned less-advantaged communities may not have been issued proper birth certificates, using instead baptismal certificates or some other such to provide proof of age and birthplace.
Ok as far as a SSN there is a new program going on that issues a number called a CURP or Cedula Unica de Registro de Poblacion.
Health care is pretty much available. The quality in some of the remote areas is questionable. The IMSS or Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social is something like an HMO. All workers are supposed to be enrolled at their by their employers but that doesn’t always happen. There is usually a Centro de Salud in most communities which may have a young intern doing his year of social service.
Private insurance is widely available.
Birth certificates are issued at a Registro Civil or Civil Registry and not at the hospital.
Education is free thru the first 4 yrs of college at government schools. Again quality varies. College graduates are required to work a year of community service upon graduating.
Though there have been some good answers, let me add some clarifications:
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No and yes. The SS# is the individual unique number that is used for your social security transactions. So in this case, no there is no ss# in mexico, but because the US ss# are used as individual unique identifiers by both private and public entities, yes there are such numbers in Mexico. Recently, the federal government created the “Clave Única de Registro de Población” (Unique Code of the Population Registry) or CURP. This number is to be used for government transactions. You can get more information in Spanish at:
http://www.shcp.gob.mx/asisnet/inf_2000/inf_curp.html
Strange question, but yes, the “municipios” issue out birth certificates to any one who is born w/i the territory of Mexico.
As it has been stated, there are private health insurances, private doctors, and state-run health services. There are two state run health services: IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) and ISSTE. ISSTE is only open for state workers and IMSS is open to all. Neither is free since workers have to pay a % of their pay in order take part in it. For more information in Spanish about IMSS, go to:
There are both private and state run universities. State run universities are not free, but have very low entrance fees. A good example of quality education is La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico which can be checked out at:
http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/
No. There are different systems of scholarships (“becas”), but not federal aid system a la U.S.
Both Mexico and the US have a similar sistem of a Republic of United States. The official name of Mexico is Los Estados Unidos de Mexico (United States of Mexico). Of course, in practice the power structure is quite different. Pol. Science professors like to state that the US has a power structure that looks like a layered cake whereas Mexico is a centralized Republic. Strong President with a weak Supreme Court and Congress (not because of the constitution, but becuase of what 70 years of one-party rule). This has changed with shift in power and both the Suprem Court and Congress have become more independent and stronger.
Hope that answers your questions.
XicanoreX
murphy is the best dog ever!!!
emphasis mine.
Actually, even in larger cities, IMSS isn’t well regarded. Those that can afford private insurance buy it. They refer to IMMS as “importa Madre su salud” which is, uh, disprespectful.
My wife’s brother is a director of something called Zone 7 in Guanajuato state in the public health department. His zone is outside the city, i.e., rural, and he’s trying desperately to change the perception of “free” medicine in his part of the country (well, Guanajuato is the home of the President, and is very progressive to say the least). Also the home of the Senate Majority Leader, who will likely succeed Fox.
Where where I typed IMMS should equal IMSS. 
Let me amend Balthisar’s comments slightly. The national health system (IMSS) is not highly regarded among top level managers and executives. It is well regarded and widely used by everyone else. In fact, private health care in Mexico is relatively cheap, because if a private health care patient has some very serious illness that needs top notch expensive technology (heart transplants, etc), they tend to use the public system and not the private system.
Actually I agree with the “importa Madre su salud” opinion about the IMSS. I said only that the healthcare in remote areas was questionable. In the major cities good quality healthcare can easily be found but it is unaffordable by many.
There are, fortunately, people such as your brother-in-law that are working very hard to overcome tremendous obstacles(the main obstacle was the PRI’s ineptness) to improve the care in rural areas.
As far as private insurance, I pay 22,400 pesos(approx. 2500USD)a year for my wife, one child and myself. It is major medical only, with a 10% co-payment, 2500 peso deductible and unlimited coverage. My daughter is covered thru a student plan at the university and it comes to only around 700 pesos per semester.