Mexican Social Security Institute

{{short description|Mexican social welfare institution}}

{{refimprove|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name = Mexican Institute of Social Security

| parent_agency = Secretariat of Health

| logo = Logotipo del IMSS.svg

| logo_width = 140px

| logo_caption = IMSS Logo

| formed = January 19, 1943

| jurisdiction = Federal government of Mexico

| headquarters = Reforma 476, Col. Juárez, México City

| employees = 360,106 (2007)

| budget = MXN$335 billion (2021)

| chief1_name = Zoé Robledo Aburto

| chief1_position = General Director

| website = [http://www.imss.gob.mx/ www.imss.gob.mx]

}}

The Mexican Institute of Social Security ({{langx|es|Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social}}, IMSS) is a governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health. It also forms an integral part of the Mexican healthcare system.

History

The IMSS was founded by Mexican President Manuel Ávila Camacho on January 19, 1943 to satisfy the legal precepts established in the Article 123 of the Mexican Constitution. It is constituted by representations of the workers, employers, and the federal government.

It is the largest social welfare institution in all Latin America.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}

For some time, however, there have been festering signs of trouble in IMSS, such as serious financial problems that came to a head in early November 2010.

Image:IMSSbuildingDF.JPG in Mexico City.]]

File:Hospital_del_IMSS_en_Pérez_de_Galeana,_Apaxco.JPG

Directors-General

class="wikitable float-left" style="margin-top: 0; font-size:85%;"
width="200" bgcolor = "#FFDEAD"|officeholder

! width="100" bgcolor = "#FFDEAD"|term in office

Vicente Santos Guajardo

| 1940–1944

Ignacio García Téllez

| 1944–1946

Antonio Díaz Lombardo

| 1946–1952

Antonio Ortiz Mena

| 1952–1958

Benito Coquet Lagunes

| 1958–1964

Sealtiel Alatriste Ábrego

| 1964–1966

Ignacio Morones Prieto

| 1966–1970

Carlos Gálvez Betancourt

| 1970–1975

Jesús Reyes Heroles

| 1975–1976

Arsenio Farell Cubillas

| 1976–1982

Ricardo García Sainz

| 1982–1991

Emilio Gamboa Patrón

| 1991–1993

Genaro Borrego Estrada

| 1993–2000

Mario Luis Fuentes Alcalá

| 2000

Santiago Levy Algazi

| 2000–2005

Fernando Flores y Pérez

| 2005–2006

Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas

| 2006–2009

Daniel Karam Toumeh

| 2009–2012

José Antonio González Anaya

| 2012–2016

Mikel Andoni Arriola Peñalosa

| 2016–2017

Tufic Miguel Ortega

| 2017–2018

Germán Martínez Cázares

| 2018–2019

Zoé Robledo Aburto

| 2019–

File:Ambulancia aérea del IMSS.png

Mexican Social Security Law

The Mexican Social Security law currently in effect, published in the Official Journal of the Federation (21 December 1995), is the legislative domain under which the IMSS carries out its operations.

Currently the law indicates that Social Security has the following purposes:

  • Medical assistance
  • Protection of basic necessities of subsistence
  • Social services necessary for individual and collective well-being
  • Giving out a pension which, depending on the completion of the legal prerequisites, will be guaranteed by the State

The law contemplates two domains, an "obligatory" one (funded by individual, employer and state contributions), and a "voluntary" one (aimed at workers in household industries and self-employed professionals).

The following items are excluded from the base quoted salary:

  • Tools of trade such as tools and clothing
  • Savings deposits, when they are made up of a weekly, biweekly or monthly deposit equally from the worker and the employer
  • Additional voluntary contributions
  • Contributions to INFONAVIT
  • Food and lodging when they are given in an onerous manner
  • Payments in coin or cash
  • Rewards for attendance and punctuality
  • Overtime, within limits established by law

Further reading

  • Flores Alvarado, A. and J.A. Moran Zenteno. The effects of the health care model of the IMSS-COPLAMAR program on the health status of the underprivileged rural population in Mexico. Mexico: Salud Pública de Mexico. 1989 (Nov–Dec 31(6):745-56.