Why the money you send ends up at the pharmacy, and how to bring order to that expense

You send the money on Friday. You meant it for rent, electricity, the kids' school. On Monday you find out a good part of it went to the pharmacy.

Nobody complains to you, and you don't complain either. How could you say no, when it was your mother's medicine?

But an uneasy feeling stays: you work more, you send the same or more, and it is never enough. Your family isn't spending badly. In Mexico, medicine weighs a lot, and it weighs most in the homes that have the least.

What the data says

In Mexico, out of every 100 pesos a family pays from its own pocket for health, 38 go to medicine. In the lowest-income households, it is 50 out of every 100.

On average, a household spent 1,605 pesos every three months on health in 2024. That is 7.9% more than in 2022.

At the same time, the money arriving from abroad stopped growing. In 2025 Mexico received 61.8 billion dollars in remittances, 4.6% less than the year before. It was the first drop in eleven years.

Less money arriving, more spent on health. You know that math without anyone explaining it.

It doesn't hit the same everywhere

This is where your family's home state matters.

In Oaxaca, households put 6.3% of everything they spend into health. In Baja California and Quintana Roo it is close to 2%. Three times less.

And there are states where the money you send holds up much more than one home. In Chiapas, remittances equal 14.6% of the state's entire economy; in Guerrero, 14.0%; in Michoacán, 11.2%; in Zacatecas, 10.9%; in Oaxaca, 10.3%. For the country as a whole it is 3.5%.

In 2025 remittances fell in 21 states, among them Michoacán, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Chiapas. They rose slightly in others, such as Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla, Veracruz and Zacatecas.

A family in Oaxaca and a family in Tijuana may receive a similar transfer. What that transfer has to solve is nothing alike.

Five steps to bring order to medicine spending

These are not medical advice. They are steps for order, so the money goes further and you know where it goes.

1. Make the list. Ask your family for a photo of every box of medicine they buy each month. With that alone you know the fixed expense, and it stops being a surprise.

2. Separate the monthly from the unexpected. Medicine for blood pressure or blood sugar is bought every month. Medicine for a cold or a fall is not. They are two different accounts, and it helps to see them apart.

3. Have them ask the doctor about options. Whether there is a generic or a presentation that lasts longer is the doctor's call. Nobody should switch a medicine on their own.

4. Ask about discounts that already exist. The INAPAM card gives older adults discounts at some pharmacies and stores. For example, in September 2026 the announced discounts were 7% at the Bodega Aurrera pharmacy and 5% at Walmart and Sam's Club: 70 or 50 pesos on a 1,000-peso purchase. It isn't much, but it is every month.

5. Buy at the same place every time, if possible. A pharmacy that knows your family tells them when something changes and sometimes sets aside what is running out.

And make the medicine list anyway: it will help you with us or without us.