Am I required to buy travel insurance when visiting Cuba?

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Currently, the Cuban government requires American travelers to have a valid Cuban ‘Asistur’ medical insurance policy.

The Asistur insurance policy is a Cuban-based insurance company which offers premiums for a few dollars per day.

The requirement to have this Asistur policy remains – regardless of whether or not travelers have valid insurance from a non-Cuban provider like World Nomads. In some instances, airlines are automatically adding the Asistur insurance directly onto customer’s airline ticket cost when they purchase a ticket to Cuba.

Does this mean you only need the Asistur policy? It’s very important that you look further into what the Asistur policy covers before traveling to Cuba, so you can decide if it suits your needs. Many travelers have stated the Cuban policy is less than sufficient for their purposes. It offers relatively low levels of medical coverage only – coverage for evacuation is very limited compared to World Nomads policies, and there’s no coverage for trip interruption/cancellation or loss of personal items, which our policies for U.S. residents do include.

Local Cuban hospitals and doctors know Asistur, but if you present them with an insurance provider they don’t know, they may ask for a cash payment up front. In that situation, you should contact our Emergency Assistance Service to arrange a payment to the hospital on your behalf.

For further advice on travel restrictions in Cuba, refer to the U.S. State Department.

Last updated: Nov 18, 2019 08:05 PM

Am I required to buy travel insurance when visiting Cuba?

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