If you've searched the web for private health insurance that covers expats in Chile then you are probably for looking for established UK based health insurance providers that will cover your medical expenses in Chile.
Living as an expat in Chile you want to avoid any nasty unexpected health care costs. In some countries these can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds for very serious conditions.
Our advice when looking for private medical cover that covers expatriates living in Chile is to speak to a insurance broker. Health insurance is incredibly complicated and if you want complete certainty that Chile is covered you should talk with a health insurance broker who can explain which providers will cover medical expenses for expatriates in Chile and which will exclude it.
There are many advantages to using a broker but the largest by far is that you're using their expertise at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than you so it costs you no extra to use their brokering services.
- Do you reside in many different areas? Some will give you a cheaper premium than offers. A broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance claim? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different policies?
- You've developed a certain condition and want to know which insurer offers the biggest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you so much time and effort.
You can call around every medical insurance provider on the market and ask if they provider cover for expats in Chile, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its far far quicker to speak to one health insurance broker which will know which policy providers on the market offer cover for expats in Chile and under what conditions they do or don't cover it.
Chile Information
Since the mid-1990s, tourism in Chile has become one of the main sources of income for the country, especially in its most extreme areas. In 2005, this sector grew by 13.6%, generating more than US$500 million, equivalent to 1.33% of the national GDP.
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Chile was the eighth most popular destination for foreign tourists within the Americas in 2010, after the United States, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. That year, 2,766,000 tourists entered the country, generating a revenue of US$1,636 million. The majority of these visitors came from American countries, mainly Argentina; however, the biggest growth in recent years has been in visitors from Europe, especially Germany.
In 2017, a record total of 6,449,993 international tourists visited Chile, a 13.3% increase from 2016. Argentina remained the most common country of origin, followed by Brazil. European tourists were third in terms of total numbers. The average tourist stayed for 10 nights. The Chilean government attributes the rise in tourism to "promotional campaigns, the development of new products and tourist destinations and a renewed diversification of experiences."
Tourism for the year 2018 is projected to continue the increase in visitors, with more than 7 million international tourists estimated to travel to Chile. Online guidebook Lonely Planet has listed Chile as its number 1 destination to visit in 2018. Lonely Planet emphasizes visiting the city of Valparaiso, the northern Atacama Desert, and Patagonia to the south.
The latitudinal width of the country, which spans over 39° (over 72° if the Chilean Antarctic Territory is included) its elevation and influence of the Pacific Ocean are the main factors behind the climatic variety and landscape of Chile, which determines the development of the formation of different ecosystems in the country.
The country has 14 natural monuments, 36 National Parks, 10 biosphere reserves, 52 natural reserves, 39 sanctuaries of Nature, and 12 Ramsar wetlands, mainly in the extreme parts of the country.
The Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world was picked in October 2014 by Lonely Planet to be among the 10 top travel regions of 2015. The desert, which has been inhabited for several thousand years, makes up the main portion of the Norte Grande. A myriad of geoglyphs, petroglyphs and pictographs attest the presence of ancient cultures in the area. Among the most remarkable are those of Azapa Valley, Lluta Valley, the Atacama Giant and Pintados Geoglyphs, these latter are protected within the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve. R. P. Gustavo Le Paige Archaeological Museum and the Archaeological Museum of San Miguel de Azapa are home to the most important collections of artifacts and mummies in Chile, including the famous Chinchorro mummies, the oldest mummies in the world, of the Chinchorro culture buried between 5000 and 1700. C. The extreme aridity of the Atacama has been a key factor in the preservation of such archaeological remains.