 "Getting access to health care"
While there are some providers of health insurance here, most people subscribe to a local mutualista (health co-op) of which there are many. Each will have a different policy about whether or not they will accept you and the only way to know for sure is to turn up in person and have them inspect you. Most mutualistas charge a standard monthly subscription to all afiliados which goes up with inflation... my local mutualista CAMEC currently charges 1, 412 pesos a month to all its paying members regardless of age or health history. Once accepted, you are an afiliado for life.An alternative approach is to register yourself as self-employed (unipersonalised.) As a BPS paying self employed person, a local mutualista can be forced to take you on and the monthly membership fee is paid for you by the BPS. If you register yourself as a rural business like a farmer or a tractor driver, the BPS charges will be similar to the mutualista subscriptions but as a non-rural self employed person, the BPS will charge you more. My electrician, my car mechanic and a friend of mine who runs a private school for the teaching of English are all self-employed tractor drivers for BPS purposes even though none of them has a tractor nor is involved in agriculture but us Colonienses are noted for our tax evading ways :-) There are certain posher mutualistas like the Britanico which offer more luxurious services and charge much more than the ordinary ones. The Britanico seems to be particularly fussy about their prospective members and is not included under the BPS scheme. Sad to say there is no way to decide these things from afar. On the other hand, I'd strongly advise you to come and visit before you commit yourself to moving here so you'll be able to visit a few mutualistas to see whether or not they will take you on. One further thought... If you are Swiss, you can be sure of a warm welcome in nearby Nueva Helvecia. My Swiss niece and her kids came over to visit me last year and she so impressed the citizens of NH with her Swissness that my social standing was raised considerably. I may be a mere Irishman but now I've shown off my Swiss family, I get invites from the local great and good. Being Swiss in or near Nueva Helvecia offers you huge social advantages even though the place no longer looks nor sounds particularly Swiss... except for the street names. :-) | 
