OBJECTIVES: Gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the most common causes of medical attention in-hospital demand, with high impact on morbidity, mortality and costs of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate from the public payer perspective in Mexico, the cost of care of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. METHODS: Through review of medical records of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding from January to March 2012 in a hospital in the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) we evaluated the length of hospital stay, laboratory tests, endoscopy and pharmacological treatment prescribed. We used as reference the 2011 database of the institution and expressed the cost in U.S. dollars (USD) at an exchange rate of 13.72 Mexican pesos/USD [June 2012] and calculated the average cost per patient, we identified the component of major cost and identify the factor associated with higher cost RESULTS: We included 70 patients with mean age 68 ± 14 years, 61% were women. 80% of cases had a comorbidity, the most frequent was systemic arterial hypertension (90%). On average hospital stay was 8 ± 4 days. The average cost per patient was 3.776 USD (1.490 USD- 8.180). The major cost component was hospital stay accounting for 81% of total costs. In patients Age over 85 years, the presence of comorbidities or gender were no associated with higher cost (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Gastrointestinal bleeding is a major cause of resource utilization for the IMSS, the main component are the days of hospital stay which cause a high economic impact on accessibility to other hospital claims.