Romanians increasingly choose to spend their summer holidays abroad, especially in countries relatively close, Greece, Turkey or Bulgaria. It’s just that sometimes they have unpleasant experiences and are vulnerable to unforeseen events.
Antalya attracts tens of thousands of Romanian tourists every year. PHOTO: Shutterstock
A holiday spent abroad, on the beach, in the sun, away from stress and any kind of worries seems to be everyone’s dream. Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria are in the top destinations. And yet, sometimes such holidays are not at all without worries and problems. One of the tens of thousands of Romanian tourists who went with his family to Turkey, to Antalya, found out directly to enjoy the azure water and the peace. He narrated the whole experience on a Facebook group dedicated to Romanian tourists who choose Antalya.
“Hello, has anyone been to the hospital with the child in Antalya? Mine has enterocolitis and for an infusion and some tests they charged us 1,150 euros. We’re going to get our money back from the insurance, but it seems huge. In addition, they did not start the medical act until they saw the money in the account. Thank you“, is the post under the cover of anonymity.
“We preferred to pay, but if we didn’t have the money…”
Reactions came immediately. “Didn’t you have insurance?”, asked a lady. “Fortunately, we have, but it took a long time to settle directly, about 8 hours, during which time they did not take care of the child. We preferred to pay, but if we didn’t have money…“, replied the author of the post. “Let me pass out, I hope I don’t need it“, replied the lady.
Others were outraged by the attitude of the doctors in Antalya. “These are brats and insensible”, someone said. Others were more curious about the name of the insurance company, while one netizen said that: “It would be good if you went directly to the state emergency hospital!“
“You had to call them and accept the payment, I don’t understand how to pay out of pocket? Direct settlement, sorry, health”wrote another.
Nightmare experience
There were also group members who disputed whether or not the insurance company pays immediately in such cases. “No one pays in advance. It is not even possible,” the group administrator wrote, but was immediately contradicted by someone else, who related another unlikely experience. “You are wrong, last year I paid an amount of 3,000 euros on the spot, dislocated shoulder. You call and solve on the phone. You don’t have to leave with several tens of thousands of euros, we read carefully and find out what insurance we do and how it is done.”
Other internet users also intervened in the discussion, who say that, in their case, the insurance company paid everything very quickly, practically by direct settlement. “2 years ago I also used the insurance, also in Turkey! I had direct debit and paid nothing. I had enterocolitis. I went to Medlife, they put me on an infusion, they also gave me some medicine“, ” and “We also went to the hospital, also insured by Groupama, but we didn’t have to pay anything. Health!”, were just two of the messages supporting this.
But others say they’ve had similar problems. “In 2019, we paid 850 euros for the same thing. They are expensive because they are private hospitals. Keep all documents for settlement, but also notify the insurer within 48 hours max,” someone else wrote. “Athe same thing happened to me! First and foremost, the insurance broker should have been called. That’s what the agency was supposed to tell you, but probably, like in our case, nobody told us anything, and the broker will indicate a specific hospital in the area they collaborate with! The Turks are miserable about it!” was another observation.
“Don’t be so surprised”
Others came up with advice. “
Hello, take with you nausovit for vomiting, ready-made rehydration salts from hipp, enterol… everything you need in case of enterocolitis… Call the pediatrician to tell you what to have preventively, depending on the age of the child. But yours too, I also suffered a few years ago with the Bulgarians“, someone wrote.
“Don’t be so surprised! In most civilized countries in Europe you die at the hospital door if you don’t have money! You’ve seen Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, and that’s it, the Turks don’t feel that they don’t receive millions of tourists through mocha hospitals. The man paid and will surely get the money back“, was another opinion.
“Why didn’t you go to the state hospital?”, someone asked. “We didn’t know where it was, they took us by car from the hotel. In addition, the insurance company said to call the hotel’s doctor and they had a partnership with a private hospital,” replied the author of the original post.
“They asked me 150 euros for a leucoplast on a superficial wound…”, someone else complained.
The conclusion came from the administrator of the Facebook group. “The conclusion: if you don’t want to pay 1,000-2,000-3,000 euros out of your pocket and wait for the money to be recovered in the country, get into your personal car, those who go by car, or in a taxi by those who don’t and go to emergency at state hospitals in Antalya, Alanya and wherever else there are, where you don’t pay, or pay a little, and where the medical problem is solved the first time and then the insurance problems are also solved. Stop going to private practices in resorts.”
