Accessible healthcare

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You have no Insurance, or are abroad and not covered, or you don't have your card with you, so what do you do?

  • trickery: switch the card with someone else
  • you need to go to a free / cheap place.

The intention of this document:

  • Have a map of places to navigate and get medical assistance when needed
  • Where to get checks and how to stay healthy?

EEA and EU countries

If you are a citizen of an EEA or EU country you should get an ESIC card.

Places

Free

Local / Stories

  • Slovenia: ER is free
  • Netherlands:
    • (Aalkmar hospital) I was rushed to a hospital with an injury threatening my finger. I didn't have my documents with me (including EHIC card). The doctor sat down with me and explained I need to pay 200€ upfront for him to take a look at it. I found that morbid and went away.
  • Spain:
    • have to fill in papers to use the card
    • I was surprised to discover all dental care is private. A filling costs 50-70€, and a presupuesto for a root canal treatment was 430€. So I needed to head back to my home country to get free healthcare.
  • UK:
  • Sweden: "[...]has free healthcare for illegal immigrants, should be possible to get if you are traveling"
  • India:
    • Fede after having been bitten by a probably rabish dog in the centre of Delhi (Paharganj, March 2010 don't have more recent updates but should be the same), has been visited, medicated and calmed down completely for free by a local doctor who sent him straightly to the hospital where he received antitetan and antirabies vaccines again completely free of charge. The day after, back to the same hospital they suggested him to go on with the treatment in his home country having the fligh the day after. Every consultation and cure was free and every doctor or staff member was extremely nice, helpful, competent and professional.
  • Turkey:

A pain in the a**!! Everything is private, it looks and sounds like United States, hospital and medical treatments are just a business, which as usual can be extremely profitable; every turkish person does have a health insurance, provided by his employer, whether public or private, which covers (probably not all..) his/her expenses. Unless you have your own insurance, you may prefer to go out into the neighbouring countries like Georgia, Armenia and Iran eastwards or Bulgaria and Greece (EU) westwards.

    • I didn't have any personal direct experience, thankfully; though every person living in the country, Turkish or foreigner, told me about stories and strongly advised me against staying in the country with no health insurance, even ER should be paying..and expensive..

General

  • Emergency treatment is free everywhere in Europe (?)
    • probably not
    • what is covered under ER?
  • Some countries have more accessible healthcare than others
  • We should get better at treating ourselves

Precautions

  • Take care of your problems in your home countries when you're there
  • Have a Basic medical kit with you

Dental care

Dentistry is a big problem:

  • Who would do it pro bono?
  • Where in Europe is it cheapest?
  • EHIC card seems to not cover dentistry. In Spain, all dental care is private.
  • Is DIY dentistry possible?

Self-cure

See Basic medical kit. Nomadbases should probably be better equipped, include a small pharmacy & tried natural remedies.

Feasible DIY medicine

  • first aid
  • stitching, removing stitches


Sources


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