Americans may be able to use their Medicare and Medicaid insurance to access Mexico health care within one year, reported Bloomberg news yesterday.

The move would make Mexico real estate even more attractive to Americans looking to buy homes and retire south of the border.

Bruno Ferrari, chief executive officer of Promexico, Mexico's foreign investment agency, told the news service that "authorities are interested" in the idea.

He said ten US and Canadian companies have shown an interest in building Mexico health care facilities for Americans looking for low cost treatment.

With the US health care debate heating up, the Mexican health care system is hitting the headlines and more Americans are opting for 'medical tourism'.

"This would be a great opportunity for the industry in this country ... There are developers interested in creating new cities," said Ferrari.

According to Promexico, some forms of health care in the US can cost 12 times as much as in Mexico.

Figures from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services predict total spending by the insurance programs will amount to $889.1 billion in 2009, about a third of all health care spending in the US.

Some are surprised by the extremely high standards of health care in Mexico, but when they realize that many of the top Mexican medical staff are trained in US universities and hospitals, the reasons become obvious.

Many health insurance companies already offer policies to foreigners buying homes in Mexico and the Mexican government's IMSS health care program is also available with excellent basic cover at a very low price.

Visit our 'Living or Retiring' section for more information about Mexico health care.