medical insurance in Russia

[mervin]

I hate to ask what appears to be a noob question, but how many Russians in places like Moscow have medical insurance, and is it even available to the people living there? I'm quite certain that very, very few people have it, but what's more important to me is whether or not it's even available to Russian citizens, how easy it is to get and how useful it is?

[Phil dAmore]

If you mean how many foreigners have medical insurance, it's hard to say. There are many private clinics that will accept various insurance plans.  I think EU citizens can use them with their  EU medical card.  Private insurance is available to anyone willing to pay for it but as you might expect there are a number of restrictions.  Russian citizens of course have access to their own free health care... which isn't nearly as bad as is often reported.

Americans pretty much have to pay for their own health care (what else is new?) At a private clinic it can cost as much as in the U.S., but at a Russian hospital it is dirt cheap.

Last year I had some abdominal surgery done in a Russian hospital and everything- the consult, x-rays, prep, procedure, hospital stay ( a week in a private room!), meds, food, post-op and all the pretty nurses I could flirt with... everything cost just over $1,300 USD.  Try that in a US hospital.  You can't get your temperature taken and an aspirin for that amount.

[Serebro]

Have more cash with you and you will get medical help anywhere

[Lily]

Many Russians enjoy a medical insurance from their employers. It covers pre-existing conditions, health preventive treatment, dentistry, etc. Usually there are a few medical institutions to choose from.

[Serebro]

Many Russians enjoy a medical insurance from their employers. It covers pre-existing conditions, health preventive treatment, dentistry, etc. Usually there are a few medical institutions to choose from.

I can't say I enjoy it.

In Soviet time you could go to a hospital and get help.
In the 90-ies you could get your insurace and be allowed to go to the hospital. If you wanted to get help in this hospital you had to pay in cash.
In private hospitals it was official, in state hospitals it was not-official but you had to pay anyway.

If you don't have your insurance you can't go to the hospital at all now. So insurace only gives you the right to ask for help, to get this help you have to pay.

I have one colleague who was pregnant when she came to Kazan and when she was due she came to the hospital but they refused to even examine her as her insurace was given to her in another town. So she had to pay to them a lot of money to be able to give birth inside of the building and not outside.

[Lily]

I mean the insurance that we have from the employers. It is indeed a first class medical assistance. A doctor comes every week in our office for 2-3 hours, so that everyone can come up with any health complaints, concerns, etc. If any problems, we can make a visit, a phone call, get the ambulance, etc. If we don't like a particular doctor, they will provide for another one at our request. If they have no facilities needed for some particular examinations, on our request they will connect to some specialized field institution in Moscow. That's why I used the word 'enjoy'. I am really happy with it.

Think of any a brand-name international employer like Coca-Cola, PriceWaterhouse, Volvo, Microsoft, Siemens, etc, etc..they all have that kind of insurance for Russian employees.

[Serebro]

I mean the insurance that we have from the employers. It is indeed a first class medical assistance. A doctor comes every week in our office for 2-3 hours, so that everyone can come up with any health complaints, concerns, etc. If any problems, we can make a visit, a phone call, get the ambulance, etc. If we don't like a particular doctor, they will provide for another one at our request. If they have no facilities needed for some particular examinations, on our request they will connect to some specialized field institution in Moscow. That's why I used the word 'enjoy'. I am really happy with it.

Think of any a brand-name international employer like Coca-Cola, PriceWaterhouse, Volvo, Microsoft, Siemens, etc, etc..they all have that kind of insurance for Russian employees.

I work in a Russian office of a well-known Russian-British company(I will not say the name for my private reasons but it's a WELL-known company)and according to my colleague's experience it didn't work well for the person who is from another town anyway

[mervin]

Well thanks for the input. All I know is that a dear friend of mine is being asked to pay tens of thousands of rubles for medical care and I was wondering how much of this could be avoided given the proper coverage from medical insurance.   

[Nika]

My experience. After the car accident with my mother, not any hospitals in Moscow did want to take her, because she had no registration there. Then that the hospital which has taken mum and was ready do an operations asked for 1 500 000 million roubles!!!
She is a widow and pensioner, has the insurance medical policy, but it does not work in Russia. It is awful. I had war with the State Medical Center and have won! but what it was cost to me??
Please, you need to be cautious in Russia with any medical help!

Sincerely,

[mervin]

Thanks for the reply Nikita