There are many foreign students coming to Slovakia who underestimate one important aspect of their stay in Slovakia: the health. By law, every foreign student is obliged to have medical insurance (although it is not checked by the foreign police as mandatory document for getting residence permit).
Many students do not think there are in some danger and therefore do not take any insurance (even not from their home country where travel insurance can be cheaper). Here are some cases that some foreign students experienced in last 12 months:
- urgent case of surgery because of the appendix. The amount was around 2000€ at local hospital
- broken leg with need of surgery. The amount for surgery was 2300€ (luckily the student took medical insurance one day ahead)
- a very recent case – student got burned when handling steam cooker. He had to go to hospital as his head, back and hands were burned
- student had problems with teeth, and surgery was needed. As he didn’t have insurance, he had to return to his home country and miss a month of classes.
Solutions for medical insurance in Slovakia
There are multiple options what foreign student can do to have protection against medical risks. The most optimal is to take medical insurance – either from your home country (travel insurance, just some products reduce the validity up to 90 days) or insurance in Slovakia.
What is the main difference? When you have medical insurance e.g. from India, the insurance company will ask you to translate the papers from Slovak to English. Sometimes the translation may be really expensive (I had case, when only translation cost 120€). If everything is ok, insurance company will cover the costs.
If you take medical insurance from Slovakia (you can check AXA insurance https://www.axa-assistance.sk/for-foreigners-sk/) which covers all risks for foreign students.
Medical insurance – urgent care
The basic product is insurance for urgent cases (surgery, broken bones, strong allergy reaction etc). You can calculate the price of urgent care in AXA calculator. The price for long-term contract is 23€ per month, shorter contracts are 25-28€ per month.
The insurance covers:
■ necessary and urgent examinations needed to establish the diagnosis and medical procedure
■ hospitalisation
■ outpatient prescription medications
■ dental treatment in case of acutely painful dental conditions
■ transport to a health-care facility
■ repatriation of the insured person, including the transport of remains to the home country of the insured person The insurance does not cover “regulatory fees” in a health-care facility for the insured person.
Scope of Insurance:
This insurance covers study, tourist as well as working stays
Medical insurance – complex care
AXA insurance company is offering also the preventive covering of risks. It is more costly, but you can then get treatment also if you are not sick yet but feel symptoms and need to get preventive medical checkup at doctor. You can estimate the price with AXA calculator for preventive care
Insurance includes:
- reimbursement of reasonable costs to a similar extent as in the case of public health insurance in the territory of the Slovak Republic, ie. treatment or cure, including diagnostic procedures immediately with them related, are prescribed by a doctor and stabilize the condition of the insured to the extent that he is able to continue his stay or is able
repatriation. - preventive and dispensary care
- general practitioner and specialist care
- Stomatologist up to 200€
- payment for drugs up to 200€
- total coverage up to 60.000€
Conclusion
The studies abroad may take from 2 to 5 years. It is a big probability that some medical problem occurs during your stay in Slovakia. There are various products on the market, that can protect you against medical problems. If you dont have insurance, the hospitals or doctors may refuse you to help you (if the case is not urgent, or it is preventive care).