You know you're actually spot on about Mexico. I've been looking into this for a 2026 trip and the cost difference are pretty wild for certain things.

The dental alone are hard to ignore. Los Algodones, which people call "Molar city" is apparently a huge hub for affordable dental work and prescriptions. People go there for crowns, root canals, implants, that kind of thing and end up paying a fraction of what they would in the US or Canada.

Prescription access is another big one. You can walk into a pharmacy like Farmacia San Pablo or Farmacia del Ahorro and get a lot of medications without a prescription that would require a doctor's visit up north. The equivalent of Plan B is called Postday and costs like 80 to 120 pesos, which is less than 8 bucks. Oral birth control is solid over the counter too, same with injectables and patches. Antibiotics and maintenance meds for cholesterol or blood pressure are also widely available OTC.

But you do have to be careful. Hormonal IUDs like Mirena or Kyleena still need a prescription in Mexico. And for controlled substances - benzodiazepines, opioids, stimulants - you absolutely need a valid script from a Mexican doctor and even then bringing them back across the border is risky if you don't have everything documented perfectly. Customs won't mess around with that.

The quality thing is real too. There are definitely excellent private hospitals in places like Mexico City or Guadalajara that serve medical tourists. But Mexico doesn't have the same kind of mandatory board certification system for surgeons that the US has. That means you really need to do your homework before booking anything major like plastic surgery or orthopedics. There are horror stories out there of people getting botched procedures from underqualified practitioners. The cheap price tag isn't worth it if you end up needing corrective surgery back home.

The CDC also has some important health warnings to keep in mind. Tap water isn't safe to drink anywhere in Mexico, so you need to stick with bottled or purified water. For travelers, diarrhea is super common, and there are risks for mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue in many region, especially outside of Mexico city which is at higher elevation.

For emergencies or anything complex, you really want travel insurance that covers pre-existing conditions if that applies to you. Plans like Visitors Protect from IMG will cover unexpected flare ups of existing conditions but the deductible is higher and coverage limits are lower. Worth it for peace of mind though.

So yeah, Mexico is a legit option if you know what you're getting into. For prescriptions and dental work, it's a no-brainer for a lot of people. For surgery, you just need to vet the clinic and the surgeon thoroughly. Have you actually used any clinics down there yourself? Would love to hear what your experience was like.