Travelling to Germany for a year, is EHIC insurance enough?

netman

Hi folks,

I'm heading over to Germany for a year at the end of this month and I'm wondering should I get an additional paid health insurance, or is EHIC enough?

I know EHIC only covers public health, but I have no idea what state the German hospitals are in. If they're anything like the Irish ones I'll definitely need additional health insurance smile.gif

Any help is much appreciated!

stereo_steve

I was living in Germany for 3 months last year.

I had a drunken accident and thought I had a broken leg. Went in to hospital with my E111 card. They saw me in 10 minutes xrayed me ten minutes later. All done in about 30mins! They charged me ten euro!

I was so happy with the experience I stayed for lunch!

I don't know if thats typical but I was more than pleased!

carrotcake

Legally, you're supposed to get health insurance as soon as you register in the town you live in. Although you can get away with just saying that you're on holidays, and pay the €10.

If you're going to study in Germany for the year, then the university should sort out proper health insurance for you. They won't register you unless you're covered.

lola_run

carrotcake wrote:

Legally, you're supposed to get health insurance as soon as you register in the town you live in. Although you can get away with just saying that you're on holidays, and pay the €10.

If you're going to study in Germany for the year, then the university should sort out proper health insurance for you. They won't register you unless you're covered.

I'd recommend you take out health insurance when there. If you're studying at a university, enquire about this.

Kobie

The EHIC will only cover emergency room treatment. If you need anything more long term, or need to stay in hospital for some reason, or see a GP you'll need full insurance.

carrotcake

I've seen a GP with my EHIC, and paid €10

An Citeog

If you are staying in Germany for more than 6 months you are legally obliged to register with the city/town hall. I'm just back after spending 11 months in Cologne. I was already with VHI, so I just upgraded my policy to VHI Global. The premium was €362, not really sure how that compared with others. The cover seemed ok but I never really had the opportunity to try it out!

lola_run

On a similar topic, does anyone here know if one had stomach pains and needed to get an enterscopy done in an EU country outside Ireland would the EHIC card give the holder reduced prices (the cost of such an exam is 200euro without any form of health insurance in the country i'm talking about)?

I've only got this info so far:
"The EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) is normally valid for three to five years and covers any medical treatment that becomes necessary during your trip, because of either illness or an accident.

The card gives access to state-provided medical treatment only, and you'll be treated on the same basis as an 'insured' person living in the country you're visiting (and only in Europe) "

eth0_

Yes you would be covered but iirc you may have to make some type of payment towards the treatment depending on the country (in the UK you wouldn't pay anything, for instance).

It would be a good idea to have travel insurance too, just in case..

dempcee

usually your Irish insurance should become a German national health insurance once you have registered in a city in an office called KVR Kreisverwaltungsreferat, or just Stadtreferat if you're moving to a smaller town. But as the others say, if you're studying, you can sort this out from the institute, they should help you with it. You can get full insurance in Germany for example with AOK Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse on a voluntary basis for 30 € a month or cheaper with university form you get when accepted, the Immatrikulationsbescheinigung.