Before you start

For IPS: employment registered by your employer
For the public network: nothing — MSPBS services are free at the point of use
For private plans: a cédula and a monthly premium

Step-by-step

1
Confirm your employer registered you with IPS
Registration is the employer's legal obligation and the 'constancia de asegurado' is the proof. It is also one of Migraciones' accepted proofs of economic solvency, so it is worth chasing for two reasons.
Via employerWho: Your employerOn hiring
2
Register with your nearest USF
The Unidades de Salud de la Familia are the health ministry's free primary-care entry point and are distributed across the district. This is the layer newcomers ignore and then need at eight on a Sunday.
In personWho: You
3
Know your route into Asunción before you need it
The Hospital de Trauma, the Instituto de Cardiología and the paediatric hospital are all in the capital. Twenty kilometres is not far, but Ruta PY02 at eight in the morning is, and an ambulance is subject to the same traffic.
In personWho: You
4
Price a prepaid plan if you want scheduled specialist care
Private medicina prepaga is the middle-class answer to waiting times for non-urgent specialists, and most of the providers you would use are in the capital rather than here — check where the plan's network actually has clinics.
In personWho: You
5
Save 141
SEME, the health ministry's ambulance service, is 141 nationally. 911 is the police. The Hospital de Trauma's own line is (021) 204-800.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Cédula de identidad
IPS constancia de asegurado where applicable
Employment contract for IPS registration

Things most newcomers don’t know

Proximity to the capital is the whole health story here.

Unlike Ciudad del Este, where the referral centres are 320 km away, Capiatá is twenty minutes from them outside rush hour. It is the single largest practical advantage of the metropolitan ring over the interior.

IPS is a provider, not an insurer.

It owns and runs its own hospitals and clinics, so membership routes you into IPS facilities rather than reimbursing you elsewhere — a different mental model from a European or American plan.

Check where a prepaid plan's network physically is.

Most of the private clinical capacity in Gran Asunción sits in the capital, so a plan that looks comprehensive may still mean the same journey.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming IPS registration happened — it is the employer's duty and is not always done.
Buying a prepaid plan without checking its clinics are reachable from Capiatá.
Not knowing 141. It is the ambulance number and it is not 911.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.