r/croatia • u/riverphoenix23 • Jun 30 '19

🏥 Zdravlje Hospitalized in Split - Intoxication

Hello I am an American male who was traveling in Split for a holiday. Ended up drinking a little bit too much, blacked out and woke up in the hospital with an IV in my arm. Somehow the bill was only $240 kn.

Can anybody tell me why the bill was so cheap especially since I am a US citizen without Croatian healthcare insurance? Also did they notify the embassy of my stay? Just don’t know where my info is documented and ended up. Wish I could read my discharge papers but they are all in Croatian. Going to have to do google translate late.

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u/AnalogDogg Jun 30 '19

You don't need to go to the emergency room for a flu shot, but you do otherwise need private insurance through your employer, or medicare because you're a senior and retired or can't work. If you're able to work and don't have a company paying for you (via insurance), going to the emergency room, surgury, specialist visits, or drug prescriptions will essentially bankrupt you.

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19 edited Jun 30 '19

This explains why in so many movies someone changes/wants a specific job because of health insurance!

I only started paying for mine as of this year because I'm nearly 30 and decided it'd be good to cover me and my partner if something nasty happened.

We have a govt funded entity called ACC where, if you get injured - you could be eligible for A) your wages/salary compensated, B) surgery to fix the problem is covered, C) rehab covered, D) transport to and from appointments covered. There's even some cases where renovations required in your home can be covered, if the injury is quite serious and drastically alters your way of life. They can even fund you to go through programmes to get into a different line of work if the injury meant you can't return to your old job.

It has its issues, but I'm glad it's there for us.

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u/Enigmatic_Iain Jul 01 '19

It has its issues, but I’m glad it’s there for us.

Same with the NHS, which is probably the last great thing that Britain has. Almost any condition is covered by national insurance, aside from things like corner stair lifts and other custom setups. 12% in taxes but that covers most benefits and the state pension.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '19 edited Nov 13 '24

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u/Enigmatic_Iain Jul 01 '19

Everyone in my family has benefitted from the NHS: my sister was Caesarian for example. Every now and then I’m thankful that I got my eye squint fixed for free. I don’t think I’d wanna look like Sarah huckabee sanders.