Austrian Social Insurance

Well, we knew it would happen eventually, someone would have the need medical attention.  Over a period of a couple of days, Grace's right eye went from irritated and red to very puffy (almost to the point of being swollen shut).

The night before we attended Parent's night and anticipated needing a doctor.  So, we asked for a recommendation on a doctor.  The problem was that the doctor's office was closed.  So, we headed off to the urgent care clinic at the hospital.  Luckily, it wasn't an emergency, because it took a little searching to find the right place!

They took Grace's "e-card," which is her social insurance card (health care plus other services, courtesy of the Austrian government due to my appointment at TUG).  But the clerk was really skeptical (you could almost see the thoughts in a balloon over her head, "how does this non-German-speaking family have social insurance ... they're foreigners!").  Anyway, after a very short wait, we went in to see the Dr.   The Dr. spoke English very well and the visit went fine.

As far as we can tell (and I've asked around), we'll never see a bill for the visit to the urgent care clinic or for the prescription eye drops.  Given that the same sequence of events would have cost at least $60 in co-pays, not to mention hundreds of dollars a month in my contribution to our health insurance, I have to say that so far I'm a fan of socialized medicine ... especially when my premium is €20/month (about $27)!

Russ

p.s.  Grace was diagnosed as possibly having conjunctivitis ("pink eye").  Whatever it was, the drops seemed to clear it up in about 24 hours and Grace is doing well and will be back in school tomorrow morning.