Free health insurance paying off for tourists in Panama

Panama’s free health insurance package for tourists is already working with 50 visitors receiving treatment since the program was introduced at the start of the year.

The program, modeled on similar ones in Argentina and Chile, gives an insurance policy that pays medical bills of up to $7,000, and provides up to $40,000 in coverage if there is a need to be transferred to a foreign health facility. The policy also covers losses due to robberies, and assistance in the event of an accidental death.

Some 15,000 policies have been issued to passengers arriving at Tocumen airport. Fifty of those have used the coverage including visits to emergency rooms, doctors of for minor injuries. The program is overseen by Generali which receives $1.95 for each policy. The government has budgeted $4 million for the first year of the program