Treviño

Visitors and exiles told they must have travel health insurance

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• published: 24 Jul 2015
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(4 May 2010) May 4, 2010 1. Wide exterior of Havana International Airport 2. Various of tourists exiting airport terminal 3. Pan of tourists walking inside arrivals terminal 4. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Jose Angel Trevino, Commercial Director for Havanatour: "The cheapest one covers up to 25,000 CUC (convertible pesos) (30,000 US dollars) in medical expenses, repatriation in case of an accident and the other two have less coverage range for medical expenses but they have some other perks such as luggage tracking. Basically there's one that offers five different types of coverage, another seven, and the last one offers two different types of coverage. " 5. Wide of people waiting outside airport for arrivals from Miami 6. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Evelio Perez, Cuban resident in Miami visiting Havana: "Don't you think it's cheap? In Miami you have to pay a lot for medical insurance and when you go to get medical treatment it turns out you don't have access to anything." 7. Zoom in to Cuban resident in Miami outside airport terminal greeting people outside airport FILE: July 2004 8. People outside Havana airport with screen displaying flights arrival schedule 9. Mid of tourists getting off plane on tarmac 10. Wide of tourists walking on tarmac STORYLINE: Cuba has begun requiring foreign tourists and Cubans who live overseas to hold travel insurance approved by island authorities, while making those who don't have coverage buy a local policy that can cost over three US dollars a day. The new law took effect on Saturday, 1 May 2010, and mandates that travellers purchase an authorised insurance from state-run Cubatur before being allowed into the country. A Cubatur kiosk at Havana's airport sold 113 policies on the first day alone, according to a Cubatur office manager. The measure was made law in February, but there had been no mention of how it would be implemented. A government spokeswoman said officials were still waiting for details Friday night, hours before the law took effect. Cubatur provided a government document explaining that kiosks selling health insurance had been established in international airports across Cuba. They accept US or Canadian dollars, euros, British pounds and Swiss francs - though all prices are set in Cuban convertible pesos, pegged at 1.08 US dollars. A policy covering medical expenses up to 7,000 pesos (7,560 US dollars) costs between 2 and 3 pesos (2 - 3 US dollars) a day, depending on an array of factors. Travellers aged 70 years or older or those planning to engage in high-risk activities will have to pay an unspecified additional premium. A Cubatur representative said he had not seen a list of what kinds of insurance was approved and from which countries, but said he had been told Cuba will accept state or private insurance from any country except the United States, given Washington's 48-year trade embargo. He said all foreigners - except diplomats and those who live here while working for oversees companies - would be required to show proof of insurance. One passenger, Evelio Perez, a Cuban-born expatriate living in Miami, considered the insurance to be good value compared to prices for medical insurance in Miami. A record 2.4 (m) million foreigners came to Cuba last year, with Canada the largest source, followed by Britain, Spain, Italy and France. Like communist Cuba, all those countries provide their citizens with health care financed totally by taxes, and often reimburse the cost of care during overseas travel. Still, Canada is recommending its citizens visiting Cuba purchase supplemental health insurance. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c4f302f727dd092fe865d2c6c16d9130 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork