For some mumma, for others plague! Romanian students who study abroad do not benefit from state medical insurance when they return, for various reasons, to the country. They have, at most, the European Health Card, issued by the country where they are studying, but this only provides them with certain basic medical services. There are also much more serious situations, when these children are not insured anywhere, neither in the system of the country where they chose to continue their studies, nor here. The senators tried to solve this anomaly through a bill passed last year, but it got stuck in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body.
Romanian students do not all have the same rights. Photo source: archive
The legislative project, initiated by a group of PNL parliamentarians, comes with two major changes. First of all, students enrolled in an educational institution abroad will also benefit from medical health insurance without paying contributions, in the context where these children still have their domicile in Romania. The second change concerns students of general medicine, dentistry and pharmacy who will benefit from state health insurance for another 6 months after graduating from the faculty. The reason? They finish their courses in the summer, but the bachelor’s exam is held only in September. Moreover, the graduates of the faculties of general medicine do not have the right to free practice until after passing the residency exam, which takes place in November. Then, in the idea that they passed the exam, the distribution process lasts for a while.
“Through an erroneous interpretation of the law, Health Insurance Companies no longer recognize students’ right to health insurance without paying the contribution once they reach the age of 18, the problem being reported by a number of Romanian students studying abroad, but who kept their domicile in Romania. By introducing such a provision in the law, the activities of the courts will no longer be burdened by the files submitted by the wronged pupils and students. Until now, the decisions of the courts have been in favor of these pupils and students who turned to them to be able to benefit from the right to health insurance”. it is stated in the report of the Health Commission for the legislative proposal.
Alexandra Bădescu, general director of Integrare Edu, one of the most important educational consultants in Romania, stated for Adevărul that we are in an absurd situation to say the least. “If a student who finishes high school does not enroll in college or find a job within three months, he is no longer included in the national health insurance system. Because he is neither a student nor an employee. If he enters college, in our country, he becomes insured again. As for high school graduates who want to study abroad, things get more complicated. Let’s take the example of a student who wants to go to the Netherlands. He is required to enroll in the Dutch health system and, in addition, he also receives a European Health Card which covers his medical needs here in the country when he comes on holiday. However, there are many students who are not required to register with the health system of the countries where they study. Practically, they are not insured either there or with us”.
What are the options
How can these children solve their situation? Their parents are the only ones who can intervene, Alexandra Bădescu explained to us. “Most of them choose to pay the social health insurance to the state budget on behalf of their children, so that the latter are still covered. Others tried, but without success, to take them as co-insured. I, for example, as a wife, can take my husband as a co-insured if he does not have a job. But I can’t take the child. Here is an issue of legislation that should be reviewed“, believes the director.
Other parents, who did not want to pay to the state budget, chose private health insurance. “ But this is not a solution for everyone. There are people who cannot afford such a luxury,” continues Alexandra Badescu.
Another option, says the director, would be study insurance. “There are kids who go outside and don’t want to pay insurance there. I take certain insurances from Romania. They are called study insurance. But they work just like travel insurance, like you go as a tourist in a foreign country, they’re only for emergencies.”
Interest wears on
The law should be revised, however, says the director of Integral Edu, the Romanian state has no interest. “These children, many of them, never return to Romania. Therefore, why invest any more in them? We lose them anyway. And then the authorities somehow wash their hands. What should be done? It’s simple and within everyone’s reach: a law to protect students from outside as well. As long as children are studying, learning, they should have health insurance wherever they are in this world. After they finish their studies, it’s a different story.” Alexandra Bădescu proposes a gradebook valid throughout the European Union. “Which certifies that you are a student and on the basis of which you can benefit from all your rights as a citizen of a European state. And it’s not just about students. Students and people pursuing their PhD abroad should also benefit from this right. Just like those in the country”.
Alexandra Bădescu told us that there were not a few situations in which she had to explain to the students who wanted to study abroad what the conditions are, in fact, that await them there. “Ok, you want to apply abroad to study. Here are the steps to apply, to be admitted. But you also have to consider the cost of living. Living costs, in addition to accommodation, meals, transport, also include medical insurance. You will no longer be insured in Romania. You have to think about what you want to do. You will go and pay o private insurance in that country? Will you pay taxes to the state budget in Romania to be insured? Do parents have private insurance in Romania? We tell them all these things and it is their decision what they will do. But he must know these things”.
CNAS explains the current law, in a way that everyone can understand
The National Health Insurance Institute explains in detail on the institution’s website the rights of students studying abroad. And things seem simple and transparent at first glance. But no one comments on the situation of students who do not have medical insurance in the country where they study. They are those children left behind by the Romanian system.
Young Romanians, who are students of faculties from other member states of the European Union/European Economic Area/Swiss Confederation/United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, are insured for health in the state where the faculty where they study is located and become insured of the respective state during the studies.
At the same time, as insured for health, these students receive the European health insurance card, a document on the basis of which they can benefit from medical services, which become necessary during the movement or temporary stay in another state, among those mentioned above . For example, a young man from Romania who is a student in France, takes out health insurance in France, as a student, registers with the family doctor in France and has access to medical services like any other insured in this country. At the same time, the European card is issued for this young student also by the French insurance institution, and with this European card, the Romanian student can only benefit from the medical services that become necessary during the travel or temporary stay (on vacation) in any other state of of the European Union/European Economic Area/Swiss Confederation/United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including in Romania, with the exception of France, where the card was issued.
If the Romanian student, studying in another country, wants to benefit from all the medical services accessible to a Romanian insured person in Romania during the vacation, and not just the restricted ones, granted on the basis of the European card, he will have to apply to the insurance institution from the state where he studies, issuing the European form S1 (E 106) in his name and sending it to the health insurance company in the county of residence in Romania, so that this form can be registered.
Thus, after the registration of the S1 form (E 106) in the records of the health insurance company in Romania, the student benefits from full insured rights, like any Romanian insured person, with medical service providers in Romania, and in other states of the European Union/Space Economic European/Swiss Confederation/United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, will have access, based on the European health insurance card, only to the limited medical services that become necessary during the travel or temporary stay in the respective state.
Nobody’s children
What happens to uninsured students abroad no one knows. “They are nobody’s children.” Cătălin Nan, the president of the Federation of Parents, stated for Adevărul. “Just as we, as parents, have the obligation to provide children with a house, food, clothes, a decent living, study conditions. so the Romanian state has the obligation to offer them support. That is, in the present case, medical insurance”. The father complains that the health system suffers from huge legislative gaps. “Since they barely take care of us, you saw how long you wait for an MRI done at the state, they don’t even take care of our children. It’s sad. What do we do? We give them food and shelter, but do not ensure their health?
Like Alexandra Bădescu, Cătălin Nan believes that the Romanian state is no longer interested in these children for a very simple reason. “Many do not return to the country, they stay to work abroad. Then why bother for them? You lost them anyway. On the other hand, it is sad to see how we export brains year after year. And what do you do as a state? You have to do something to keep your children at home.” And, we say, don’t “punish” them if they go to study abroad, going on the principle that they won’t come back anyway.
