Hola! (Alt: Health insurance for foreigners?)

[M1ke]

Greetings all! I've been lurking here for a little while now ahead of my impending move to Buenos Aires and thought it was about time I introduced myself. You seem like a friendly bunch and I've already learned a lot trawling old posts. I look forward to the day I might be able to offer similar advice to newcomers myself!

I'm actually in the city now for a few weeks to familiarise myself with its ways, people and places, and I plan on leaving England and moving here for a year or longer sometime in August. I'll be joining my Argentine girlfriend here and will no doubt have many questions about the practicalities of the move. Luckily I'll have something of a ready-made support network here in the country though her family and friends to help me arrange things and answer questions, but there are some things that I'm sure will be very different for a foreigner than the locals.

The first thing that comes to mind is the question of healthcare here - I've read much about the system itself but I've struggled to find much on the specifics of getting coverage as a foreigner. Will my money be as good as anyone elses, or is it more dependent on the kind of visa I might hold and so on? Google searches have turned up little so far.

Any pointers are much appreciated and I look forward to getting to know some of you!

 

[sergio]

I am not up-to-date on this however a few years ago I knew a couple of foreigners who were illegal here but got health insurance. I doubt that you will have any trouble. If you are under 65 and in good health you should be OK. Your gf, however, could make a couple of visits to companies like Medicus, OMINT, Swiss Medical, British Hospital etc and inquire.

 

[tourist2townie]

I had similar questions and actually had some what of a medical emergency that I had to take care of when I first arrived in BA so I wrote all about it on my blog.

http://www.tourist2townie.com/tourist2townie-blog/2010/2/6/health-care-in-argentina.html

View the comments as well because there have been some updates from people who know more than me.

I hope this helps.

 

[nikad]

Your money here will be just as good, no matter what type of visa you are on, do not sweat it, just buy some insurance and you are ready to go

 

[RobeartoNYC]

I have the platinum Medicus Plan, it's the best, and its less than U$100/ month.

PM me, and I can tell you who to contact.

 

[jaredwb]

Greetings all! I've been lurking here for a little while now ahead of my impending move to Buenos Aires and thought it was about time I introduced myself. You seem like a friendly bunch and I've already learned a lot trawling old posts. I look forward to the day I might be able to offer similar advice to newcomers myself!

I'm actually in the city now for a few weeks to familiarise myself with its ways, people and places, and I plan on leaving England and moving here for a year or longer sometime in August. I'll be joining my Argentine girlfriend here and will no doubt have many questions about the practicalities of the move. Luckily I'll have something of a ready-made support network here in the country though her family and friends to help me arrange things and answer questions, but there are some things that I'm sure will be very different for a foreigner than the locals.

The first thing that comes to mind is the question of healthcare here - I've read much about the system itself but I've struggled to find much on the specifics of getting coverage as a foreigner. Will my money be as good as anyone elses, or is it more dependent on the kind of visa I might hold and so on? Google searches have turned up little so far.

Any pointers are much appreciated and I look forward to getting to know some of you!

Hey, I've had the privilege of experiencing both the public and private HC system here. To be honest, the Public isn't "all" bad.

That being said, if you can afford it, private is the way to go. OSDE is probably the best coverage out there and they have a number of plans depending on your needs. All you need is a passport and you are good to go.

The main OSDE office is on Billinghurst and Santa Fe just 2 blocks from Alto Palermo.

 

[M1ke]

Some really great advice here, thank you everyone! I'll start contacting the various companies and see how I get on.