🇨🇱 Santiago · Healthcare

Doctors, insurance and emergencies in Santiago

One mandatory 7% contribution, paid into either FONASA or an ISAPRE and never both. Treatment in the public network has been free at the point of use for every FONASA bracket since 2022.

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The thing people get wrongFONASA is not a last resort for people who can afford nothing else. It excludes nobody living in Chile, whatever your nationality or immigration status, the same 7% covers your dependants at no extra cost, and under Copago Cero public-network treatment is free at the point of use in every bracket, A to D.

Indicative figures

  • Health contribution7% of taxable salaryCapped at 90 UF of income. Covers dependants.
  • Public network, every bracketFree at the point of useCopago Cero, since September 2022.
  • Tramos B, C and DUp to CLP 553,553 · 553,554 – 808,187 · above 808,188Monthly taxable income, from 1 May 2026.
  • Superintendencia de Salud600 836 9000Complaints and mediation for both systems.
  • Salud Responde600 360 7777The health ministry's advice line, 24 hours.
  • Ambulance (SAMU)131

Checked . Ranges, not quotes — your Insider confirms the current numbers in Santiago before you commit to anything.

Two systems, one contribution

Chile runs a public insurer, FONASA, alongside the private ISAPREs, and you belong to one or the other and never to both. Both are funded from the same mandatory contribution of 7% of taxable salary, capped at a taxable income of 90 UF. What an ISAPRE plan costs above that 7%, and what a private consultation or a FONASA bono costs, could not be read from any insurer or clinic price list when this was checked, so ask for both in writing before you choose. Moving between the two has a timing rule of its own, below.

FONASA takes everyone, and the public network is free

FONASA states that it excludes nobody living in national territory, regardless of age, income, number of dependants, pre-existing conditions or nationality, and its own list of who may join includes foreigners who are irregular or without documents. Under Copago Cero, in force since September 2022, treatment in the public network — CESFAM, consultorios, postas and public hospitals — is free at the point of use for members in every bracket, A through D. FONASA's own account of what it covers runs from consultations, tests and diagnostic procedures to surgery, hospitalisation, obstetric care and the medicines on the Formulario Nacional, alongside AUGE/GES and the Ley de Urgencia. Dependants cost nothing extra, because the 7% covers the member's cargas familiares as well as the member.

The brackets, and what they change

The four income brackets were updated on 1 May 2026 under Ley 21.830. Tramo A is for people without resources, B runs to CLP 553,553 of monthly taxable income, C from CLP 553,554 to CLP 808,187, and D above CLP 808,188. The bracket does not change your access to the public network, which is free in all of them; it changes the Modalidad de Libre Elección, where members in B, C and D buy bonos to be seen by private providers under contract and members in A cannot. With three or more dependants, D drops to C and C drops to B.

Registering, and the regulator

You register at fonasa.cl, logging in with your RUN or with ClaveÚnica, or in person at a FONASA branch. It is a five-step form, and step four inscribes you at a health centre for the address you give, which is why proof of address is required and why your registration is tied to one specific clinic. Have ready a photo of both sides of the cédula, your most recent payslip showing the contribution paid to FONASA, proof of address, and the IPS or Caja de Compensación registration of any dependants; if any of them is missing, FONASA rejects the application outright.

  • Coming from an ISAPRE, wait for the cover to end before registering. The end date is one month after the date on the certificado de desafiliación.
  • With no job, FONASA asks instead for your last 12 AFP contributions, a photo of the cédula, an AFC statement and proof of address.
  • The Superintendencia de Salud regulates both FONASA and the ISAPREs, runs complaints and mediation, and publishes a price-analysis tool for tests. Its line is 600 836 9000.

In order

  1. Get the cédula and ClaveÚnica first; FONASA and the ISAPREs both register you by RUN.
  2. Decide between FONASA and an ISAPRE, asking any ISAPRE for its plan price in writing.
  3. Register with FONASA online with the cédula, a payslip showing the contribution and proof of address.
  4. Note the CESFAM your registration ties you to, and the nearest urgent-care service.
  5. Register dependants as cargas familiares; they cost nothing extra.