Colombia Forum

cafetero
Joined 2015
Posts: 2328

5 years ago

Insurance for expats in Colombia

5 years ago

This is my understanding of the current health insurance picture in Colombia. I apologize for the length, but its a complicated topic.

There are four types of Insurance.

1. BASIC, called Sysban, is free to everyone, including gringos visiting, or expats living here without insurance. You will not get turned away from emergency care. Regardless of pre-existing conditions. You may have to wait a while for treatment, first come first served.

2. EPS, with at least a dozen different companies selling policies. This is the one most expats buy. Among the dozen or so companies there are differing rules about pre-existing conditions. There is no age limit on EPS. Chances are you will need a Visa and a Cedula to purchase EPS insurance.

3. EXTENDED, you pay over and above EPS for faster service, more specialists, in-home visits and in-home care, ambulance, etc.

It is my understanding that expats over 65 (70 in some cases) are not eligible for extended care.

4. The fourth type of insurance is BURIAL insurance. THIS IS NOT LIFE INSURANCE. When you die they pick up the body, prepare it for burial and deliver it to a funeral home. You can choose to be buried, or cremated.

The burial insurance will pay for the cremation but it will not pay for a final resting place for the ashes or the body, such as a cemetery.

It costs about 20,000 pesos per month to pay for the Burial insurance. The burial insurance policy can cover up to 8 people under the same 20,000 pesos per month.

Without the burial insurance it costs 600,000 pesos to be cremated and another 600,000 pesos to have the Urn placed in a Catholic cemetery. If your survivors don't have the 600,000 there is some sort of paupers grave.

Most expats pre-appoint someone to spread the ashes somewhere like the ocean or a mountaintop or where ever. I helped do this one time and it was several shots of brandy and then dusting off the ashes that blew back on us. Then more shots of brandy.

I recommend all expats get the burial insurance, it will make it much easier on your survivors, and you can put your whole extended family on the policy.

Just ask around for a funeraria near you and go in and buy the policy, it takes about 10 minutes. Some of the funerarias will not issue a policy to anyone over 65, but the will issue it to your wife or girlfriend or neighbor who is under 65, then add your name to the policy.

For health insurance, Option 3, EPS is the one that most expats go with.
The cost each month depends on where you live.
if you live in a pueblo, like I do, you will pay .125% of the monthly minimum wage which is just under 830,000. My monthly premium is 104,000 pesos and that is for EPS Sanitas, and it covers my girlfriend and me. If I had kids I could add them to the policy at no extra charge.

However, if you live in a city, and live in Estrato 4, 5, or 6, you will pay .125% of the income you stated on your visa application.

The average Social Security recipient gets about $1400 per month, roughly 4,340,000 pesos. Multiply that x .125% = 542,500 pesos per month will be your monthly health insurance premium if you live in a city in Estrato 4 or above. But you can add your wife or girlfriend, and children, for no extra cost.

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