Health insurance matters
First: Well, that wind certainly made itself known. The rattling steam train on our roof turned out to be the wind racing through the air conditioner unit and/or through some heavy plastic pipes the landlord has left up on the ‘tower’ roof above the kitchen. We had to keep turning the television up so we could hear it, and the force eight or nine gale went on through Wednesday and into the evening, finally fading out well after dark. The Blue Star was unable to leave Rhodes, in fact, looking at Marine Traffic, I could see no passenger ships in the Aegean at all, only some sturdy tankers and cargo boats. Even Rhodes Diagoras airport was closed to flights at one point.
But Thursday was quite the opposite. The morning was calm and quiet and there was but a slight breeze. There was also a strange mist around, or maybe it’s dust in the air, and things looked rather autumnal out there. At one point I could not see Nimos which is only a just across the bay. It was also warm, so perhaps the mist was caused by humidity. Either way, it was a complete contrast to Wednesday’s battle of the winds, and this blog is quickly turning into a daily Symi weather update page, so let’s move on to something else.
The health check MOT is fast approaching and we will be going to Rhodes in a few days. We are just waiting to get the itinerary from our health insurance contact and then we can plan boats and hotels. In case you were wondering, there are various ways to have health insurance in Greece and, in my 14 years here so far, we have had dealings with four. First there is the IKA (like the British national health schemes and service) which you can get if you are employed by someone else. Then there is TEVE which are payments made by self-employed folk, and this also covers pensions and things and, as far as I can see, is very expensive. Smaller communities can also use something called OGA, which is, I think, mainly for farmers, fishermen and some small businesses. (I have not looked up the exact details here so excuse me if that’s not 100% accurate, but OGA was available for the shop when we had it.)
Then there are private health plans and apparently many Greek people on IKA (and others) also opt for some kind of private health insurance if they can. These services are a private supplement to their government insurance. Or, you can go for full private insurance if you don’t work for anyone else, or work for an overseas company and don’t fall into the IKA and other schemes. This is what I set up last year. Part of mine involves some annual check-ups, along the lines of what we usually do (regular and longstanding readers will know about this) and that’s what we are going to be doing, hopefully, in the first week of April. Although Neil is still in IKA, he has a check-up plan as well, and pays a certain amount for a morning of tests at the Euromedica private hospital in Rhodes. Mine is similar but works in a different way as I also have a full cover plan.
And that plan is with AXA (their Greek website is here – in English). I did look at others last year but settled for this company for various reasons. The cover is good, though the only thing private insurances don’t cover is the cost of medicines, which can be expensive in Greece, and elsewhere, and so the annual check-up is well worth adding on. I’ve always found that Greek doctors are very into prevention as well as cure. Often have I been told off for not going to the doctor before I became ill. ‘You left it so long, why?’ ‘Because I wasn’t ill yesterday.’ ‘You should still have come to me sooner.’ That kind of thing, which is of course, all for the good. Anyway, our lovely lady, Tsmabika, is making our arrangements (all part of the service) and we should be heading off to Rhodes to get thoroughly checked up. If you are interested to know more, you can look at the website link above, or call the office in Rhodes. (English is spoken there as well as Greek.) The number is +30 22410 69690.
