Across Women's Lives

If you’re a woman or over 60 in Chile, you have to pay two to three times more for your health insurance. At least, when it comes to private health care. Older people pay more, too. And if you have a pre-existing condition, like asthma, you’ll be denied coverage. But Chile’s government is debating right now whether to change that.First, a breakdown of how health care works in Chile.There’s the public system that anyone can access, which is paid for by a 7% tax on salaries. And then there’s the private insurance system called Isapre. You have to pay a lot more for it but it gives you access to specialists and better hospitals. And the waits aren’t nearly as long.  Related: Is Canada's health care system a cure-all? That’s what María Pilar Iturrieta, a lawyer in Santiago, wanted. Pilar has a 5-year-old daughter named Guadalupe who was born with a cleft lip. Guadalupe needed specialty care, which she could only get through the private Isapre system.But when Pilar applied for private insurance, she was rejected t