Spending a school year in Ireland

Question

I am going to spend a school year in Ireland. What’s the procedure with prescriptions and medication in Ireland? (Will I have to pay for the medication etc.)? And how can I find a doctor there who knows about CF?

Answer

Hello,

Thank you very much for your question. I am happy to hear that you intend to spend a school year in Ireland. That certainly will be a very important experience for you, and it is good to see that more and more young persons with CF have the courage to go abroad for longer periods.

The Irish CF association will provide information about CF treatment and care, see www.cfireland.ie. There you will find contact addresses of CF clinics and further details.

[Please note: The original question was asked in German and therefore, the answer is also written from a German perspective]

The following regulations apply for a holiday stay in Ireland up to six weeks:

Visitors from Germany who are members of the German statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV) are entitled to make use of the care provided by the Irish National Health Service. You need your German health insurance card which is issued by your statutory health insurance. Please tell your Irish doctor that you want to be treated according to the principles of the Irish National Health Service. That means, though, that you can obtain treatment and care only to an extent as it is provided by the Irish National Health Service. For further service you need a private complementary insurance. Please take notice: What I said above applies to holiday stays for up to six weeks. Unlike for employees according to what I found out there are no Europe wide policies and procedures for school attendances over a longer period. .

Therefore please contact your statutory health insurance and ask there how insurance coverage is provided in your case.

Is there an organization which arranges the school attendance in Ireland? In this case please ask them about insurance coverage during the year you are going to spend there.

The national CF association of Ireland will inform you about which medication is paid by the Irish National Health Service (see above)..

In any case a private complimentary health insurance is recommended, in order to be able to make use of services not paid by the Irish National Health Service. An insurance for repatriation is important also. However, you will meet with the problem that private insurance companies very often exclude pre-existing chronic diseases like CF. Therefore you should check with many private insurance companies, and include non-profit organizations like automobile clubs or air rescues (in Germany: ADAC, DRF Air rescue.) If you cannot find a private insurance to cover additional treatment costs ask several private insurance companies to certificate that they do not ensure you because of your CF, and present this certificate to your statutory health insurance. Your statutory health insurance perhaps is able to provide some protection in this special case. But this has to be clarified individually.

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I wish you the best and that your planning runs smoothly. Please let me know if more questions should occur.

Birgit Dembski

19.11.2009