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Health Insurance Requirement - Tourists

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LaCabaña
  7/2/2017 01:19 EST

Are they checking for health insurance documentation at the borders or at the Quito airport?

I am aware of the new 2017 law to have health insurance in Ecuador.

Saw a cheap EU policy for 19€/month ---- wish that one covered Ecuador like it does the Schengen area.

WVolpe3
  7/2/2017 11:25 EST

The insurance isn't for tourists. It is a residency requirement.

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OceanHideaway
  7/3/2017 03:40 EST

Health Insurance coverage would be necessary if you request an extension of your tourist visa.

At the same time that you demonstrate economic ability, you would show you have healthcare coverage that would cover you in case of need such as one of the many international traveler plans.

appoquin
  7/5/2017 19:35 EST

Hello.
I am a US citizen planning to visit Ecuador for a month.
Other then my passport, Do I need any other proof of anything? I do not think I need a visa,
I read somewhere I must come with a roundtrip ticket, or be forced to purchase one at the airport when I arrive. Is that true?
Thank you

OceanHideaway
  7/5/2017 22:03 EST

As a person with a visa of less than one year duration you must demonstrate some form of onward travel outside the borders of the country before the termination of your visa period. The easiest to show if arriving by plane is your return ticket but by no means the only method. Onward bust tickets crossing to Peru or Colombia are also a viable option and we had a thread last month with links to 2 online bus ticketing companies.

Susan

Stetson1883
  7/10/2017 12:20 EST

I received a visa extension last week in Quito and was NOT required to show heslth insurance coverage nor had to buy any.

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Stetson1883
  7/10/2017 12:20 EST

I received a visa extension last week in Quito and was NOT required to show heslth insurance coverage nor had to buy any.

OceanHideaway
  7/11/2017 01:12 EST

Evidently they aren't enforcing the new rules yet.

That's Ecuador.

Rules can be on the books but unenforced until they are.

Then everyone has to get buckled up.

Thanks for the first person update!

multiego
  7/11/2017 10:38 EST

Ocean

That is one of the things most difficult for new folks to get used to. The law (your field I seem to recall)

The degree of unenforced law in Ecuador is an eye opener.

I tell people that what they do is logical (from a government's standpoint).

They write the law tight and interpret it wide. That way you can always tighten it up when needed and with wide eyed innocence say "Thats the letter of the law as written - not me"

the laws written in Quito can take decades to filter down to the provinces.

Like this cute USA congress bit of the automatic pay raise....."we didn't vote ourselves a pay raise!" Oh no!, it just happened. No more embarrassing debates about stuffing your pocket with the taxpayers $$. It just happens.

you didn't know that?

they law, as they say, is a funny thing

sin

sueb4bs
  8/7/2017 14:19 EST

RESIDENCY VISA: I have had one since early 2012. I am over 65.. I have been self-insured because I decided against IESS insurance. All is well.
If someone here knows the requirements precisely for the law REQUIRING health insurance, please give all the details here. If you have incomplete info, please do not comment. Many thanks. Sounds like I need to catch up with what is happening in the Assembly.. This may affect my budget greatly.. Susan

kmoriarty45
  8/7/2017 17:44 EST

sueb4bs,
I don't think this will affect you. I am in a similar situation and was also interested to find out if these changes would pertain to me.


As luck would have it, my wife ( who is very involved in local politics ) were at a function Sat. for our Asambleísta and I had an opportunity to ask him what his take on this was. According to him the changes shouldn't impact us jubilados ( I'm 72 ) who have been long term residents of Ecuador and have either private insurance or have been enrolled in IESS for at least a couple of years. The proof of insurance and the new rise in IESS rates ( which haven't gone into effect as yet ) are geared to new visa applicants. There is no new REQUIREMENT for those expats who already have resident visas.

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sueb4bs
  8/7/2017 21:43 EST

Thank you for your straight-forward comments. As I stated I do not currently have ANY health insurance coverage in this country. This is why I wrote and is my primary concern. Vamos a ver....

dgb
  8/8/2017 13:26 EST

We have insurance that is accepted for as little as $35 a month if you need info just let us know

Joseward
  8/9/2017 11:46 EST

I would like information on this $35 health insurance!

OceanHideaway
  8/9/2017 17:02 EST

Well the info just cam in that we will need to show some form of insurance, though not necessarily how much.

As to when, it will be six months follwing the 180 days follwing the publication of the law.

since the law was just passed, that would be no sooner than a year from now to have to prove insurance coverage and as you know with Ecuadro a lot can happen in 12 months.

Hang tight and see what sorts of plans start to roll across the way.

BUT be really careful of gringo plans...we have a history here on the coast of gringo plans that come and go and someone eiher gets rich or gets lots of services and everyone else gets nothing... you might want to consider that IESS plan just to cover yourself. In case of emergency.

Grasshopper
  8/15/2017 13:59 EST

I is so CONFUSED!!!

(...but it'll work out. ...better work out ..lol)

OceanHideaway
  8/15/2017 18:25 EST

Here smoke this...you´ll still be confused but you won´t care so much ;)

Grasshopper
  8/16/2017 20:22 EST

I guess it's who checks you in.. but i just quit buying round trip tickets. I always had to change the damn return date, then get hit with 250 here and 200 there. It would end up that I would spend about as much as two one ways, one time it was more.

Now I just fly in one way, get stamped, and that's been Guayaquil and Quito.. but no one ever asked to see a return ticket. Not when I had one, not when I didn't.

..and know that I have said this - I'll certainly be asked this time.
..this time is different though - I'm going to consider Susan's Peruvian bus ticket for 10 bucks..

...and that road, by the way, sucks. jaja

H

Canuck65
  6/28/2018 16:15 EST

I flew out of Panama last Oct. to Guayaquil and had to show an onward ticket out of Ecuador if I wanted to get in.

NHLFAN
  6/29/2018 21:18 EST

Just for information.. I flew from Bogota to Quito to Manta 6/15/18. No proof of insurance needed.

Dedbroth
  6/29/2018 23:37 EST

Sadly, this just points out how inconsistent everything is.

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