One of the key aspects of linguistic and cultural immersion is living with a host family. You hear the language even when you’re at home, and you get to learn more about their cultural practices and beliefs as you interact with them. My host mom loves to share her thoughts, and I decided to ask her a question every now and then—when I had the time to listen—about the Chilean perspective on various topics. I asked about therapy, prisons, healthcare, insurance, and other similarly important issues. The other day, we discussed Pinochet.

Every person in Chile has healthcare. There are a few different tiers but in general the plans are separated into FONASA and ISAPRE. FONASA roughly translates to ‘Basic National Health’. ISAPRE represents private insurance companies, and the acronym stands for ‘Institutions of Provisional Health’. This system covers less than 6% of Chileans—everyone else is under one form or another of FONASA. Our insurance under IES Abroad is considered ‘particular,’ so we pay in full and make claims afterwards.