The IMSS was founded by Mexican PresidentManuel 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]
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.
Mexican Social Security Institute building (IMSS), located on Street Near Metro station Sevilla in Mexico City.Hospital del IMSS en Pérez de Galeana, Apaxco.
Model air ambulance service on regular routes and schedules used in the transport of patients for treatment, from rural areas to national central hospitals, operated from 1979 to 1982. The service transported 100,000 patients in its first 18 months of operation.
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
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.
