Daughter studying abroad in Germany - Question about health care
 

Hi all, We're very excited because our middle Daughter will spend 5 months in Trier studying. She leaves in about a month.

My question is this. How expensive is health care to non-Germans? I spoke with our health insurance company yesterday and they will cover overseas medical expenses at 60% (ie like an out of plan doctor).

Another concern is that she will have to pay the bills and then submit them. So I am feeling a bit concerned about the costs and I would like to avoid any huge surprises. By the way, she's generally healthy so we're not dealing with any specific health issue.

Should I consider a supplemental policy for the trip?

Thanks for any insight!
H

German universities require from all their students a health insurance with FULL coverage. A 60% coverage will not be sufficient.

So, she needs special health insurance. Düsseldorf University recommends:

http://www.care-concept.de

Am I correct in assuming your daughter is going to do this under some sort of organized "study abroad" program?

If so, do they give any information about insurance available?

Here are the coordinates of foreign students services at Trier University.

I recommend you talk to them on the phone and ask them which insurance company they recommend.

Akademisches Auslandsamt, [email protected]
Tel.: (+49)0651/201-2808, Fax: (+49)0651/201-3914

This is the adress of the AOK, the public health insurance, at Trier University. They have experiences with foreign students and they are recommended by the University (your daughter has not to pay any bills, the doctors, hospitals etc. charge the insurance company directly). The fee should be around 330 Euros per semester:

Uni-Geschäftsstelle Trier
Im Treff 9
54296 Trier
Telefon: (06 51) 9 10 34-0
Telefax: (06 51) 9 10 34-379

Hours:
Mo - Fri: 8.00 - 16.00 Uhr
Thu: 8.00 - 18.00 Uhr

Or try this website:

http://www.daad.de/deutschland/deuts.../06266.en.html

Besides health insurance, it also covers other aspects of foreign exchange students' live in Germany.

Take traveller1959's advice seriously and get in touch with the university. They will know best what kind of insurance will cover the specific case of your daughter best.

The additional health insurance which he recommended in his 1st posting is a private insurer which means that you pay first, and get reimbursed later (as you were afraid of). This is only possible for temporary students (like your daughter).
Full time or regular students from abroad need to be member of the compulsory "public" health insurance, which he described in his 2nd posting. "Public" health insurance members do not pay themselves, but the doctor or hospital settles the bill directly with the insurer. Not sure if she will be eligible for public health insurance, but the university will know.

While any "big health issues" are unlikely to happen, it may be a good idea to buy some basic supply of OTC drugs like Ibuprofen/ Aspirin or similar in the US. They are usually less expensive there than in Europe, if you stick to drug store brands.

Even the most basic OTC drugs like Aspirin can only be bought at pharmacies, and not in supermarkets.

Wow, thanks so much for everyone's very thorough and prompt replies. They did speak to my daughter briefly regarding insurance, but said that if she had coverage, they wouldn't need to deal with her. Now I see that it's a much larger issue.

She is actually going to be at the Fachhochschule in Trier, which is different than the large University. It's a design school, and much smaller from what I can tell.

I will spend some time researching and report back what I learn. Thanks for all of the information and especially the links!
H

Both of my kids studied abroad for a year in Torino,Italy;Ortigia, Sicily and in Prague. All three of the universities that they attended provided the "special health insurance" that they needed and it was mandatory.The cost was included in the price of the tuition and the university that was overshadowing it from the states(as they did not use the study abroad programs from their particular university).Check your brochures as they usually will not allow you to even go if you do not have the proper insurance and visas.

On the bright side, if she does end up having to pay first and get reimbursed by her policy, routine medical services in Germany seem to be quite a bit cheaper than in the U.S. I was in Stuttgart for two and a half years and we had to pay all of our medical bills up front, then got reimbursed by our U.S. health insurance after submitting claims. We joked that the price of human health care (routine services at least) in Germany was comparable to what we paid for vet visits in the U.S.!

Trier is a beautiful city and I'm sure your daughter will have a wonderful time!

Yes, asking the AOK is the best idea. If she pays the 330€ per semester, she'll be treated any any other person . A flat additional rate of 10€ every 3 months applies, should she see a doctor during that time. Should she need some dental surgery (who knows :-) ) it's a good idea for a student to have it done during that time.

Here are the coordinates of foreign students' service of the Fachhochschule Trier:

Tel. +49 651 8103-378
Fax +49 651 8103-547
aaa(at)fh-trier.de

Anyway, ask the AOK office of Trier University first.

In Germany, we have private, public and semi-public health insurances. The public health insurance is AOK. It may sound strange for an U.S. citizen, but the public company AOK may be the best option for your daughter. No hassle with paying bills in cash, and 100% coverage.

This is NOT a matter of nationalism: The German health system is very good, and your daughter will get excellent protection with AOK. It is NOT like the public health service in UK (sorry, flanneruk) or in Denmark. Your daughter gets the best doctors, best hospitals, best medicines. And 100% coverage, without paying by yourself (minimal charges may apply, like 3 Euros for a medicine, but nothing that exceeds 10 Euros).

hausfrau:

We once hosted friends from Alabama, and the lady arrived here with a very serious pneumonia which she has catched in Alabama.

I took her to my doctor. He decided not to send her into hospital (who would kept her for at least three weaks) but gave her a brand-new antibiotic. He made a house-call each day.

After one week she had recovered enough to fly home. We pre-arranged wheel-chairs for her at every airport.

When she saw her doctor at home in Montgomery, Alabama, he was most impressed by the ultra-contemporary and highly effective antibiotic she received here and he was even more impressed how inexpensive the antibiotic was.

The total treatment was about 300 Euros for the doctor (including x-rays and housecalls) and 80 Euros for the antibiotic.

Again, I am very grateful for everyone's input. She goes to school in Kansas and I'm in Oklahoma so I haven't been in on all of the details. I will speak with her at length about the offered insurance.

I would much prefer to pay a set amount up front and be able to relax and know that everything will be taken care of.

It's good to know that medical care is not astronomical for Auslanders since we'll be visiting her in May!

Thanks again everyone, and I'll certainly post an update.
H

You're welcome, may mine and the other folks money benefit your health!
(No kidding here!)

6 years ago my son got sick in Germany, admitted overnight. Paid out-of-pocket $250.

Most Germans who are insured through mandatory insurance never get a clue how expensive medication can be because they never see the bill or pay for it at the pharmacy (except that minisculus copay of €5-10 for a prescription).

A week's worth of antibiotics against a rather serious illness can be as little as €20, while the the same amount of pills against rather mundane canker or thrush can add up to €400.
A trip to the doctor with a sour throat can be as little as €30, and a regular x-ray around €50, while CT is €400, and a PET scan €1,200.

So, it does not take a life-threatening disease to end up with a rather steep bill. Therefore, health insurance is always a must.

A CT is €400 in Germany? My recent CT bill in the US was €2000 at current exchange rate. On top of the CT charge, the radiologist charge was €270.

>A CT is €400 in Germany?
It depends, whether you're operating inside the public health system or not. Prices you charge for public health (AOK and other insurance companies) insured people are fixed at low rates (=call it socialism) . Prices for the rest of the patients are negotiable, (afaik) usually up to 2.3 times the public rate.

I was definetely a bit vague.. prices for CT or similar vary by how much of the body has to be x-rayed. Also the allowed range the doctor or clinic has to fix its prices at levels above the public health insurers plays a role, like logos said.

An MRT (CT) of head&neck costs 461,64 Euros in Germany.

<<< A CT is €400 in Germany? My recent CT bill in the US was €2000 at current exchange rate. On top of the CT charge, the radiologist charge was €270. >>>

There's a posting about healthcare on the Lounge - I did some calculations and the cost of healthcare in the US is twice that of the UK per head of the population. Removing the folk who don't have any coverage at all puts that figure even higher

I find it extremely difficult to compare health care among industrialized countries.

Availability is also a factor in costs.
You often hear praise of the health system in Sweden, while a friend of mine said that she needed a while to get used to long waiting times before she would get an appointment.
So, in some countries people consider it normal to wait 2-3 weeks for a dentist appointment, or half a year for some heart surgery. In other countries both is a matter of hours or days.
Under some national health plans, the use of "fancy" technologies like MRT or PET scan/CT is reserved for the almost terminally ill, while elsewhere it's routine.

I find it really hard to make an overall judgement on what is "better" or "cheaper" unless you can also compare what you will get for you money, and how readily available it is.

you can find spezial Tariffs for Students on http://www.auslandsversicherung.de

Thomas B., you should know that advertising your business here is not permitted.