15 Expats Talk about Health Insurance and Healthcare in Ecuador

"If you need medical care and have good knowledge of Spanish, the state system IESS may be your choice, however if you are retired they raised the rates to about 17.5% of retirement income. I have cheap (low quality) insurance which reportedly doesn't pay, which is fine for me because I would rather pay 45 per month for insurance that I can't use than 75/mo for insurance I won't use," wrote one expat.

"Go to the best hospital instead of the government hospital. Use the private clinics for basic healthcare and pay out of pocket," commented one expat who moved to Quito.

"Do sign up for IESS national healthcare. Note that as of July 2017 the rate will be based on Verified Income. The rate will be 17.6% and an additional 2.4% per dependent. An expat on $1200 Social Security with one dependent would therefore pay $240 a month for Health coverage," said one expat.

"This is the best medical care in terms of caring for you and really identifying the best way to correct the medical issues of people. Doctors really care for their patients, and spend time talking and testing for the real problem and thus coming up with a real solution to your specific issue. And all done at a bargain price," remarked one expat in Cuenca.

"Seeing a doctor in Cuenca is an easy matter. No appointment necessary in most cases. Excellent service and good quality for a much lower cost that the U.S," remarked one expat living in Cuenca.