Mexico City – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons said Monday that the Mexican government has offered to pay health-care costs of Mexican nationals residing in Nevada.
Mexicans would be eligible for the program regardless of their legal status in the United States and would participate by registering with the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas, Gibbons said during a conference call after a meeting with Mexican Health Secretary José Angel Córdova Villalobos.
“The cost that is normally born by taxpayers in Nevada for the health-care costs would be shared by the Mexican government for these individuals,” he said. “That’s a win for Nevada. It’s a win for the people who are going without health care because they don’t have insurance.”
Gibbons said he has asked the Mexican Consulate to begin researching the program, which is being tested in New York under the name Windows of Health. He did not know how many people it might benefit or when it might be implemented in Nevada.
Mexico’s Health Department did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
In addition to Córdova, Gibbons met with Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Education Secretary Josefina Vázquez Mota.
Gibbons and Espinosa discussed the possibility of sending Nevada law enforcement officials to help tackle security issues in Mexico’s major tourist destinations, while Vázquez told him Mexico would be eager to provide bilingual teachers in Nevada’s school districts with large Hispanic populations.
