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this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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Here in Ireland, it's often faster to go to the hospital emergency department by hopping on a flight to Belgium or Germany than to drive to a Dublin hospital. Before Covid, it used to be cheaper as well.
Wow, that I didn't know. What happened to Irish healthcare?
Nothing out of the ordinary, just very long wait times in the emergency room. Earlier this year, I got hit by a car, suffered a concussion and spent 12 hours in the waiting room. I was in no condition to travel then. However, a few years ago my wife suffered a chronic condition, which sent her to A&E trice. The first time, she was in the waiting room for 16 hours. The second time, she booked the first available morning flight to the continent and went straight to the emergency room. It took her seven hours (including the three hours between booking the flight and flying out) to see a doctor. The charge in Irish A&E is €100 per visit; the cost of flight and taxis was €90. We used to say that Ryanair was the largest healthcare provider in Ireland. Not anymore, as the prices went up, but it's still worth it, especially in the case of chronic, un- or mis-diagnosed diseases.
Thanks for explaining, I know public healthcare is always stretched but it's amazing you can just take a plane and use another country's healthcare and it's faster.
Do you have to pay different prices for Belgium or Germany or do you not have to since it's all EU?
If you have health insurance, you can get the free EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), with which you get free emergency care anywhere in the EU. Some countries may charge you (me or my family have experience with Germany, Belgium and Czechia for free admission, and Austria where a bill is later sent to you). However, over a certain income the Irish are required to pay for private insurance (if you don't, you get taxed extra), and usually the insurance companies reimburse the costs as they are lower than they would have been in Ireland.
Got it, thanks for explaining again. Really interesting to see other countries' health system. I do find it funny that Ryanair is/was used that much for medical purposes!