How can we interpret the new government measure Havana disclosed on Saturday, which requires visitors to the island to buy health insurance?
The measure states:
FIRST: For entry into the country, all travelers, foreigners and Cuban overseas residents are required to possess a travel insurance policy, covering medical expenses, issued by an insurance entity recognized in Cuba.
At points of entry into the country, the sale of these policies will be ensured by Cuban insurance entities.
SECOND: During their stay in the country, foreigners with temporary residence in Cuba are required to have a medical insurance policy issued by a Cuban or foreign insurance entity recognized in Cuba.
Diplomats and representatives of certain international organizations will be exempt, but all other visitors to the island will be subject to the new requirement. There is no mention of how much the insurance will cost.
Presumably, the new measure is not an effort to keep anyone out, but to draw further on one of the island’s main sources of income—tourism—at a time when the cash-strapped government is looking for much-needed new sources of revenue. If that is the case, they would do well to make the traveler’s insurance policy a highly affordable (read: dirt cheap) one, or it will indeed act as a deterrent.
(Photo from www.havanajournal.com)
