Insurance coverage in Paraguay

Medical insurance is increasingly popular here.  It goes from the range of very basic or even poor coverage provided by the national coverage program (from the health ministry) called "IPS" ,  to rather upscale private insurance providers who have their own hospitals such as Assimed.   IPS costs for lets say a family of three per month is like $50, for a family of three in the Assimed program it's about $220.   Pre-existing condition exclusions aren't used here but normally all meds are not covered, even for operations.  So you end up purchasing needed meds from the hospital pharmacy or a private one as needed.   Much better to purchase thru a local provider I would think than an "international expat service" as once you get a local provider it's super easy to get care and coverage issues taken care of.  Some service or coverage provided by an outside the country source….hmmm, pretty risky I would think.

Home insurance isn't normally used, although I have heard some larger insurance company's offer it now. 

Car insurance is mandatory but many poorer locals don't carry it.  One big issue is that the most liabiltiy coverage they provide is $10,000 per incident.  And of course it's normal for the aggrieved party to simply sue for more than that.  Especially if someone involved in the accident is a foreigner or assumed to be rich.  The legal system here is hopelessly corrupt and inept and the default judgement always goes against the foreigner.  I personally know two expats who nearly lost it all due to judgements against them, even though they were not at fault in the accidents.  The choice they both were presented with is "pay or go to jail".     And while your case is being decided you lose your passport so you won't flee the country.  As well as possibly just sitting in jail if they really think your a flight risk.  This is really one of the worst issues expats have to deal with in living, and driving, down here.  Because of this, some don't drive at all and just rely on the bus or taxi's to get around. 

We have car comprehensive insurance on our two cars and it costs about $200 a month.  We've had a claim for hail damage to both cars a few years ago which was taken care of quickly and professionally to our satisfaction.  Also someone broke out a side window on our SUV one day and we got that replaced quickly too.   No deductibles by the way.   And no car insurance cost increases because of either incident either.  Insurance costs are based on age and cost of the cars insured, which makes sense.

General liability coverage (outside of car insurance) isn't something that has caught on down here yet, although maybe someone knows of some company providing it on a small scale.