The Healthcare System in Peru: Organisation, Local Insurance, Hospitals, Emergencies and Health Risks

Access to health insurance is widespread: INEI reports that 93.9% of the population declared having insurance in the third quarter of 2025, against 90.6% a year earlier, with 95.4% in rural areas and 93.6% in urban areas. By type of insurance, 64.9% of the population has only the Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS), 59.6% in urban areas and 88.4% in rural areas; the other insured people come under EsSalud or other insurance.

EsSalud is the contributory insurance intended for Peruvians and for foreigners who meet the accreditation conditions; it offers five types of insurance. SIS is the public health insurance. The private sector, which France Diplomatie describes as well equipped in Lima, completes the provision. Comparisons with other countries are in the guide to healthcare systems around the world.

• Seguro regular (+SEGURO): for dependent employees of a formal company and their families, as well as for pensioners. The contribution is 9% of pay or monthly income (Law No. 26790), borne by the employer, and cannot be lower than the minimum living wage; it covers the spouse or partner, the minor child, the adult child with a disability and the expectant mother.
• Seguro potestativo (+SALUD): intended for anyone living in the country, Peruvian or foreign, with no age limit, in particular self-employed workers and their dependants not affiliated through an employer. The official EsSalud page, updated on 25 September 2026, states that individual affiliation is suspended until 31 December 2027; the affiliation of direct relatives is possible only with a contract in force.
• Other insurance: complementary insurance for hazardous work, agrarian insurance and accident insurance (+VIDA), reserved for regular, agrarian and potestativo insured people.

For a seconded or local employee, affiliation therefore goes through the employer; for a self-employed person or a retiree, the options are SIS, the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French expatriate health fund) or international insurance. See healthcare reimbursement in Peru.

SIS asks for two basic conditions: holding a DNI or a carné de extranjería and not having another health insurance (seguro de salud). The page of the “SIS Para Todos” plan specifies the second condition: not having other insurance with essential plan coverage (PEAS). The carné de extranjería is obtained at the end of a change to resident immigration status; it is therefore reserved for foreigners already settled with a residence permit, see living in Peru.

Affiliation is requested at the nearest health facility, through the SIS app, through the toll-free line 113 option 4 (available 24 hours a day) or by email. The finer eligibility conditions (for example the socio-economic assessment of the household) are not detailed in the pages read and should be confirmed with SIS. SIS is the basic public cover for a resident foreigner who meets these conditions; complementary insurance remains useful for the choice of doctor and for evacuation.

The official sources consulted do not describe a compulsory care pathway with a registered family doctor. France Diplomatie states that private clinics and hospitals in Lima are well equipped and that the standard of doctors there is generally good, but that payment is required in advance, with a bank card requested on admission. The same source considers imperative an insurance policy covering medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and evacuation, because the embassy cannot bear them.

Before a planned hospital stay, three checks avoid unpleasant surprises: the insurer’s agreement to cover the costs, the amount of the deposit requested and how direct billing works. The guide to checking the contracted network details the method.

Law No. 27604 and the general health law guarantee everyone immediate emergency medical attention, in the nearest establishment, public or private. SUSALUD recalls that no establishment may demand the DNI or a payment before life-saving emergency care, and that penalties range from a warning to a fine of up to 500 UIT. Costs are invoiced after the end of care; for vulnerable populations, SIS covers them, and for uninsured people the establishment invoices the patient.

• 106: SAMU, free call from a mobile or a landline, 24 hours a day all year round, with an ambulance sent if necessary; 117: EsSalud ambulances in Lima.
• 105 police, 116 fire brigade, 115 civil protection, 113 Infosalud, Red Cross on 01 266 0481.
• French embassy in Lima: +51 1 215 84 00.

See also how a medical repatriation works.

• Local employee or seconded employee in formal Peruvian employment: the employer declares and pays the contribution to EsSalud, and the employee obtains cover for themselves and their dependants. For a seconded employee who remains affiliated to the French scheme, see seconded or expat.
• Self-employed or digital nomad: since individual affiliation to the seguro potestativo is suspended until 31 December 2027, the remaining options are SIS (with a carné de extranjería and no other insurance), the CFE or international insurance.
• Retiree: form S1 is specific to Europe; the retiree chooses between SIS, the CFE and international insurance, as explained on the page retiring in Peru.
• Family: the dependants of an employee affiliated to EsSalud are the spouse or partner, the minor child, the adult child with a disability and the expectant mother; outside EsSalud, each family member checks their own access conditions. See expat family insurance.

For the third quarter of 2025, INEI notes that 81.2% of people aged 60 and over and 65.9% of those aged 50 to 59 declared a chronic disease, increases of 2.0 and 1.5 points respectively over one year. This benchmark directly concerns retirees: it calls for checking, before moving, the cover for chronic diseases, long-term treatments and hospitalisation, as well as the medical history declared in any medical questionnaire. The guide to the medical questionnaire and medical history details this point, and the CFE does not ask for one for its plans.

France Diplomatie recommends updating routine vaccines (diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough, measles) and mentions hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever and rabies depending on the length and conditions of the stay. Yellow fever vaccination is strongly recommended for the Amazon, at an approved centre at least ten days before departure.

• Dengue, chikungunya, Zika and Oropouche: dengue has annual epidemics from December to April in the northern and western regions; pregnant women seek a doctor’s advice before travelling.
• Malaria: endemic in Ayacucho, Junín, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Piura, San Martín and Tumbes; absent above 2,000 metres.
• Altitude: altitude sickness is possible above 2,500 metres; climb gradually, without gaining more than 400 metres of elevation a day.