I have health insurance in the DR. It is good and it is bad.
Good: I can go in and see their doctors, and if they accept my insurance, it only costs me RD$20 a visit. They have 2 hospitals/clinics to go to in Santo Domingo, as well as clinics throughout the country which also accept this insurance as payment. Also includes ambulance coverage.
Good: the cost of the insurance is only about RD$10,500 a year for family coverage. In the US it would be US$10,000 a year for equivalent coverage AND a hell of a lot of paperwork for every claim.
Good: It pays 100% of vaccinations and lab work.
Good: No paperwork, we just show our carnet and pay RD$20.
Bad: the really good, experienced doctors in their own hospitals don't accept payment from this insurance, and I end up paying the Doctor from RD$500 to $700 a visit if I want to see the best doctor, (in my definition, one who has a second medical specialty degree from Espa?a or Argentina or the US, and 10 to 20 years experience and a wall full of medical books thrown in as well).
Bad: It does NOT cover catastrophic medical events. You have to buy a second catastrophic policy with a deductible for things like cancer, heart trouble, liver transplant, etc, or the alternative for you will be to go home and lay on the couch in your house and die slowly without treatment after your cash runs out.....
Bad: We went in on a Sunday as an emergency visit. I ended up paying for the majority of the labwork (this would have been free if we had waited until Monday, but that didn't seem appropriate); I paid for the Doctor on duty's fee, as he didn't accept the insurance, and the deductible for the call as well. Might as well not have had insurance for that visit.
Bad: A lack of accurate information in writing for our policy. You just have to go to the clinic or the doctor, and find out how much and what is covered, and pay the difference immediately.
Good luck.