01The three things almost everyone needs first
Some people arrive through a residency program — Pensionado, Friendly Nations, Qualified Investor — and some just arrive. Either way, no visa, permit or property purchase includes insurance, and the same three needs come up in nearly every first conversation we have with newcomers:
1. Private health coverage
The public system — Caja de Seguro Social (CSS) and MINSA hospitals — serves residents who contribute to social security, and it is genuinely inexpensive. It is also crowded, slow, and rarely English-speaking. The private hospitals expats actually use — Pacífica Salud (the Johns Hopkins–affiliated, JCI-accredited flagship), The Panama Clinic, Hospital Paitilla, Hospital Nacional — run on private insurance or cash. Your visa includes none of it. Section 02 →
2. Auto insurance
Third-party coverage is mandatory by law in Panama (Law 68 of 2016), your foreign policy doesn’t transfer to a car you own here, and rental coverage ends with the rental. Section 04 →
3. Your home and what’s in it
Buying with a mortgage? The bank will require fire coverage on the structure. Renting? Your exposure is the contents — theft, water damage, personal liability. Either way it’s the cheapest policy you’ll own. Section 05 →
02Health insurance, explained for where you’re coming from
If you’re arriving from Canada, the UK or Europe, you’re leaving a tax-funded public system where care is universal but scheduled for you. If you’re arriving from the United States, you’re leaving employer-tied insurance, narrow networks and the highest medical prices on earth. Panama is neither. Here coverage is private and personal: you buy your own plan, priced by your age — and because medical costs are a fraction of US prices, the premiums genuinely surprise people. You choose your own specialists and hospitals directly, with no gatekeeper referrals.
Panama does have a public system (the CSS and MINSA hospitals) for residents who contribute — but the private system is where expats and most of Panama’s professional class get their care. Within it, everything hinges on one choice: local coverage, international coverage, or a combination.
| Local plans | International plans | |
|---|---|---|
| Insurers | ASSA, MAPFRE, SURA, Óptima, Internacional de Seguros, Aliado, Banesco Seguros, Mercantil Seguros, La Regional, Vivir Seguros | Bupa Global, Cigna Global, Allianz Care, WorldWide Medical, Pan-American Life (PALIG), Blue Cross Blue Shield Panamá, VUMI, Best Doctors Insurance |
| Where you’re covered | Some run a local network in Panama; others cover you at every hospital in the country with no restrictions. Some include small, limited international coverages. | Panama and anywhere else in the world. Some run a global hospital network; others are free-choice — any hospital in the world. |
| Direct billing in Panama | In most cases, at network hospitals — or at any hospital in Panama if the plan has no network. Some plans work by reimbursement; it is part of what you evaluate when choosing. | The same principle: depending on the plan, direct billing at international hospitals or reimbursement — another important factor in the decision. |
| Premium level | Extremely affordable and accessible, but it is a Panama-only policy. | Slightly higher, but you get worldwide coverage and many additional benefits — and Panama prices are already very accessible. |
| Best for | Full-time residents who will mostly be treated in Panama | Frequent travelers and families who want to keep treatment options abroad |
Several carriers offer both local and international products — we quote across all of them. Exact networks, limits and conditions are set by each policy.
How plans actually work day to day
- Co-pays from $5–$25. Many local plans let you see a network doctor for a flat co-pay — people arriving from the US don’t believe this until their first visit.
- Networks — or none. The big local insurers run extensive provider networks; other plans have no network at all and reimburse any licensed doctor you choose.
- Everyday vs. catastrophic. Low-deductible plans are built for real use — pediatrician visits, specialists, labs. High-deductible catastrophic plans cost far less and exist to stop the one bill that could hurt you, while you pay small things out of pocket. Many families run one of each.
- Preventive care included. Annual checkups are commonly covered, and several international plans carry preventive budgets that fund a full executive checkup at Panama’s leading hospitals every year.
Covering your kids
Children’s plans are widely available and genuinely affordable, and this is where we most often recommend co-pay plans: kids live at the doctor’s office — well-child checkups, ear infections, sports physicals — so paying a few dollars at the door beats collecting reimbursement receipts. Pediatric preventive schedules are commonly covered, and adding children to a family plan is routine.
The four underwriting realities
What you can actually buy is decided when you apply — and all four of these reward acting early:
- Age at entry. Your age and current health directly shape the premium. The golden rule: the earlier you start, the better. The system’s big advantage is that, generally, once you enter a health plan you can stay in it long-term.
- Pre-existing conditions. To apply, you always complete a medical questionnaire; in some cases the insurer may request an evaluation. Depending on your situation, the plan and the insurer, an existing condition may be excluded, surcharged, or subject to a waiting period. This is exactly where a broker can be a great help in finding the best option if you have a prior condition.
- Waiting periods. Some policies have no waiting periods at all; on others, benefits like maternity and certain surgeries wait from a few months up to a full year. Tell your broker if you are planning a procedure or if specific coverages matter especially to you.
- Deductible and co-pay structure. There is sometimes a different deductible for using the plan inside vs. outside Panama. A great detail: in accidents, many plans waive the deductible entirely. Some plans run on co-pays instead of deductibles — or a combination of both — to make everyday visits easy.
03Panama’s private hospitals operate on payment guarantees
Many people don’t expect it: for a major procedure, Panama’s private hospitals often ask for a deposit or a payment guarantee. Fortunately, the right policy avoids this: the insurer acts as your guarantee so the money never leaves your pocket. You cover your deductible or co-pay, and the company pays the hospital directly — the process becomes remarkably simple.
Some policies you bring from abroad do not qualify for this. If you are coming from another country, it is essential to ask a broker whether your current policy would work this way at a Panamanian hospital. Without local direct-billing agreements, the hospital can require the projected bill upfront — and those bills easily reach tens of thousands of dollars, the last thing you want to face mid-emergency.
Ask the question before you need it
“Does my insurance direct-bill at the hospitals I’d actually go to in Panama?” Confirming this detail ahead of time is the best way to avoid headaches and protect your finances at the critical moment. We verify it for every client — policy by policy, hospital by hospital.
04Car insurance: what the law requires
Panama’s Law 68 of 2016 makes a basic traffic-accident policy — known as SOBAT or SOAT (Seguro Obligatorio Básico de Accidentes de Tránsito) — mandatory for every vehicle. It covers third-party property damage and bodily injury at modest legal minimums set by the transit regulation.
Driving uninsured is a traffic offense
Failing to present valid third-party coverage (infraction 70 in the transit rulebook) brings a fine, and authorities can tow and hold the vehicle. More importantly: with only the legal minimums, any serious incident — a totaled car, an injured pedestrian — quickly exceeds the policy limit and the difference lands directly on you.
That’s why virtually every driver buys comprehensive coverage (cobertura completa): it protects against collision and rollover, total and partial theft, carries higher third-party limits, and includes roadside and legal assistance after an accident. If you finance the car, the lender will require comprehensive coverage anyway.
05Home & contents
Buying with a mortgage? The bank will require fire coverage on the structure before closing. But the coverage that earns its premium is everything around it: contents and theft, water damage (the most common claim in apartment towers), personal liability, and — this is seismic country — earthquake coverage, which is available, inexpensive relative to the exposure, and routinely overlooked. If the property has a mortgage, the bank will require a policy — and there are often real advantages to handing the bank your own private policy instead of simply taking the one they offer. Renters aren’t off the hook either: the building’s policy protects the building, not what’s inside your apartment.
06Travel insurance
Useful in both directions. Flying home to visit family? Your new local health plan may not follow you — a travel policy covers the trip for a few dollars a day. Just arrived? Travel coverage can bridge the gap between landing and the day your health policy activates, including the waiting periods on specific benefits.
07Life & personal accident
The classic use here: protecting a mortgage or your family’s income in your new country. Local and international term products both exist, underwriting favors the young and healthy — same logic as health, act early. Personal accident policies are an inexpensive complement, paying fixed sums for accidental death or disability regardless of other coverage.
Life insurance in detail → · Opening a company in Panama? Group health, liability, fleets and bonds are our corporate practice — corporate insurance →
08Getting covered — three steps, one contact
Age, family, health basics, what you drive, where you’ll live. Two minutes on our form or WhatsApp — in English.
As independent brokers we work with every authorized insurer in Panama — ASSA, MAPFRE, SURA, Bupa, WorldWide Medical, PALIG and more — side by side, with the direct-billing check done.
We handle issuance, then stay your point of contact for every claim and renewal. That’s the actual product.
What to have on hand for a quote
- Passport (and residency card or in-process paperwork, if you have it)
- Date of birth for every person to be covered
- Basic medical history — conditions, medications, surgeries
- For auto: vehicle make, model, year and its registration (registro vehicular)
- For home: property address, construction type and approximate values
No originals, no notarizations, no cost — quotes are free and carry no obligation.
09Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be a resident to buy insurance?
No. Most insurers accept a passport while residency is in process. Some products ask for a local address or bank account — requirements vary by insurer, and we match you to carriers that fit your immigration status.
Does Panama’s public system cover me?
The CSS public system serves residents who contribute to social security, and public hospitals handle emergencies. Most expats use the private network, which runs on private insurance or cash — residency alone includes no private coverage.
Can I keep the policy from my home country?
Sometimes. Check two things: whether it excludes long-term residence abroad, and whether it direct-bills at Panamanian hospitals. If the answer to the second is no, you’re the bank until reimbursement arrives. We review existing policies free of charge.
Is car insurance (SOAT) really mandatory?
Yes — Law 68 of 2016 requires the mandatory traffic-accident policy (SOAT / SOBAT) on every vehicle. Driving without it is a ticketable offense with a fine and possible tow. Since the legal minimums are very low, comprehensive coverage is the recommended norm.
How much will health insurance cost me?
It depends on your age, medical history, the deductible you choose, and whether you prefer a local or an international plan. The best way to know the exact cost is to request quotes and talk to an insurance broker to evaluate every option on the market — free and with no commitment.
What does an insurance broker cost?
Absolutely nothing. A broker charges you no extra fee, since they hold service agreements with the insurers. The big benefit for you: a transparent market-wide comparison and the backing of a professional who accompanies you through the policy’s entire life cycle — issuance, claims and renewals.