Healthcare in Dominican Republic

Planner is right at 76 NO insurance company here will accept you.  And yes the usual age cut off is 65.

Bob K

Also note that your medicare will not be accepted here either.

Bob K

It's not that Medicare is not accepted here, medicare won't pay it here, only in the US or its' territories.

Same difference  BOTTOM line is you are paying

Yep six of one half a dozen of another.  IN any regards your medicare won't work here.

Bob K

Oh, so if you have medicare, you could go to Puerto Rico for care?

Yes that would be an option.  However depending on where  you lived here getting to Miami or New York is easier.

Bob K

Hello, I stumbled on to this site/post while looking for information, I live in the USA and have family members that reside in Dominican Republic , specifically Santiago , My cousin needs health insurance .  Someone told me I can pay for his health insurance here via a company here in the USA  that will provide it for him there in Dominican Republic. I have searched but found no info on this . does anyone have any info ? thanks

Junior welcome,

I have never heard of a company in the US that writes health insurance policies in the DR.  There are international companies that will cover the DR.  Look at Clements World wide for some info.

Bob K

But the cousin lives here - way cheaper to get the insurance here. How and where you pay it from doesn't really matter.   Why does your cousin need insurance? Is there a condition or reason or  just for ongoing protection?

Welcome to the forums. I have a small group with Humano - one of the 2 big companies here -  Universal is the other one.  Its fairly easy to set up insurance.  Your cousin can go to the local Humano office or the Universal office,  coverage will cost anywhere between  880 RD per month and 2200 RD per month depending on choices!  (there is more expensive but its overkill)

Thank you for the welcome and I'm glad to be here . and thank you for the replies thus far.
His job is currently going under and they don't provide  insurance due to the fact that they don't have enough employees ,so they claim, but then again if you are familiar with the work force , this is common in some industries on the island.

I Live in New York and there is a commercial that runs on the Spanish tv stations that claim you can pay for a loved ones insurance here that will provided for them there on the island. I guess its for individuals that have family members that cant either afford insurance or don't have any. I guess its  obvious since New York City has a large Dominican population that it would be a service provided here. But I haven't been able to spot the damm commercial nor find any info on the internet on this specific service from a specific company. Im not sure as to all the details of the commercial if its a broker or a specific company that provides this service as a convenience to the public.

My cousin needs to see a doctor for a routine check up and something specific , thank god its nothing major he is in his 50's ,

thank you Bob k and Planner for the info  i will look into it and keep everyone updated and if I find the company/commercial I will definitely post up the info

thanks again
jr

You are very welcome.  Ask your cousin if he has the government mandated insurance?  If he does not then the employer is breaking the law for everyone there.   

Either way, send him to Humano or Universal to get something going.  You can pay by credit card,  paypal, wire transfer etc if needed!

You are welcome and Planner is right.  Let him sign up here locally with Humano or Universal and then you just pay his bill.

The other service you are looking for may in reality be a scam

Bob K

Health Insurance in DR for 70 Y.O. wishing to retire in DR?

Please talk to me O Planner.

Ed welcome to the forum.

I am afraid that there is no insurance company locally (in the DR) that will issue a policy to you at your age. There may be some international companies but the ones I know about (we have an international policy) also will have a problem with your age.

Sorry

Bob K

O Planner,  I love it.  Bob is right though there is no insurance at age 70 honey.

The interesting news is I have asked if this can  be set up.  Will one of the companies take this on?  Premiums will reflect the risk but  at least it may be an option. I will keep everyone posted.

ths message is for people over 65 looking for health insurance. I am a very lucky man, I am 76 and I finally got health insurance for $47/mo. after coming to costambar for the fourth year I am now living in here. in short you can get insurance here if you are older than 65. there is an agent in puerta plata where I got my insurance. I don't have his phone number or address, sorry. my receipt only list 2 things " APS and ARS. if you come to costambar at the anchor restaurant and talk to the manager named MARLON he can take you or I can take you there. if you go there yourself here are directions. from the skotia (spelled wrong I'm sure )bank, go up hill for about 4 or 5 streets where you would turn left. that street is identifiable be a tall tower on the right. when you turn left it is about 100 feet on the right and on the second floor. that's about all I can help you with




















4

Thanks this is news to everyone. Please get us the name of the company and what this covers!  Lots of others want this info.

Maybe you should contact the insurance company (what company was it that issued you the policy) to see if you are really enrolled and actually have insurance.

I have never heard of a company that writes initial policies if over 65.

Call me skeptical but something here just does not add up.

I hope this agent that you do not know, nor have a card of phone number for and was referred to you by a local restaurant manager did not take you for a ride.

Bob K

This may not be actual medical insurance, if it is though many will want to know about it.  I am skeptical as well.

michael4251  No response????????????


Bob K

it my fault that I did not get a business card. and the restaurant manager is one I have been dealing with on every trip to costambar. he is also an apartment manager where I have stayed on all my trips. I over paid him by $125, he put the money in his pocket and counted it later, then returned the money to me. a lot of little things reveal his honesty. I get coffee every morning at the ANCHOR, sometimes he doesn't have change so I pay him for the next day so change doesn't have to be made. next day I go to pay him for the coffee and he says, you paid me yesterday. most people in this immediate area say you would need to look very hard to find a man as good as marlon ( pronounced as marlo )  as far as the insurance goes I have a limit of 250000 peso's per case per year, every thing is paid 80% for most even tho dental is 100% but still under the 250000 peso limit I think. it will be a few weeks until I get my card and then I will find out how good the insurance is but I feel pretty safe because marlo took me there. and I was wrong about the directions, I was on that road today and there are at least 3 towers off to the right on different blocks

hi, I don't go downtown much but sometime in the near future I will get the phone # and you can call the agent, he speaks no English but I understand you speak spanish

Well any info will help others.  Shouldn't take weeks to get your card honey.  I know Marlon a bit and I've never heard a bad word about him!!!!

Thanks! Please let me know!

they will call me when the card arrives to them, I made an assumption it would be weeks, we are in Dominican repiublic and as you know there is no such thing as soon or tomorow

hi bob k. as you might know I don't get on this site very often but in the past when I see you and planiner I have a lot of respect for your comments and knowledge. but I am responding to your last message to me about as you put it, no response, I don't know what that means. I assume it means you sent me a message to which I didn't answer, sorry

No just that you had posted and I asked a question and you did not respond (more that a day or so)

No big deal I was just anxious to get some information because if this insurance is for real (still would like to know what company wrote the policy) then that is terrific information for the expat community.

Sorry if you were offended in any way

Bob K

sorry about the no response from me bob. I don't use the site except when someone post and I can retrieve it. if I try to get on they ask for my user name and password  wiich I have lost a long time ago, sorry

I have found the company that issues this insurance and the details. First it is expensive. 2,897 per month or about US 65 a month.

You have a plan limit of  100,000 RD per YEAR, about US 2,212
Catastrophic coverage limit  is 500,000 per case not per year. Or about US 6,612.

Hospitalization is 2,000 RD per day
Out of hospital has a copay of 20% with a 5,000RD limit per year.

Waiting periods:
Emergency - immediate
Lab work -  30 days
Doctors - immediate
Xrays etc - 30 days
Special studies -  4 months
Medical procedures - 8 months (excludes accidents)
Catastrophic illness -   1 YEAR!

Additional options   Dental -  3 month wait*
Prescriptions -  8 months*
* not included in this price.
NO PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS ARE COVERED.

So you are going to pay about  65 US per month =  US 780  annual for  a coverage limit of  US 2,212 doesn't make sense to me. 

IF you are going to purchase this,  make sure you truly understand what you are buying.  You can enroll from age 65 to 79.

I will not be offering this plan to anyone.

Overly good planner. Lot of good info in your message, especially about waiting Times. Not seen a policy yet and don't expect to. There are a few differences in my details of coverage from what you have detailed. My catastrophic coverage is 300000 not 500000 as yours, monthly cost is about $ 47, rd$ 12500 for six months prepaid or double that when paid for a year. My max coverage is rd$ 200000/year, 20per cent I pay. So far they haven't ask me to take physical, I wish they would. I am in good health, only high blood pressure which I take pills when i need it. my main concern for this insurance was for emergencies only, any other coverage is just fine. Thanks for the info on the time waits, my paper work does not disclose any but will probably be simular. As far as recommending this policy it is not worth the price to you, but make the info available to others and let them make the decision, better than saying they can't get insurance at all. Thanks for your work in finding the coverage details

Planner thanks for the info.  Not something I would recommend to anyone. 

Bob K

You are welcome guys, I like to stay informed too.

Just out of curiosity, my wife and I (both 34) and our son (5) have Humano's plan Max provided to us through our employer.  I'm curious as to what this plan may cost, mostly because I'm a nerd and like to know how much the benefit is worth.  I do know that I had a catastrophic plan with a high deductible in the US as we were planning to move.  That plan cost me $287 a month before the affordable healthcare act and the equivalent plan after the AHC was around $600 per month.  As I've read this thread, I'm amazed at how inexpensive insurance is for the level of care received.

you also don't need to recommend, just make the info available and let the old people make the decision. you can tell them you don't recommend it because of this, because of this, because of this. and that's ok, but let them know it's available so they can make the decision. I took it for emergencies is it worth it. you gotta be old with no other options before you can make that decision, let them know it is available so they can decide if you and planner decide not to make this info available to the old my impression of both has dropped quit a lot, sorry

The info is available I just wrote about it. I was a financial planner and recommended things all the time.  I manage an insurance group personally and one at work, so I recommend plans all the time.

It is always personal choice and I can choose what I will recommend and this plan is not one of them!

Humano Plan Max is the plan I have and I am very happy with it.   I  have it inside my group offerings and it includes prescription coverage of  5,000RD  a year and a dental plan.  This costs  2,210 RD per month or about US 48 per month.  If your plan is with a group, the size of the group will affect the price.  Other benefits will also affect the price.

Thanks for the reply.  It's amazing how inexpensive some things are here and how expensive other things are here.

Yes the info is now posted but still I don't think it is any kind of a deal and I still would not recommend it.

Bob K