This article was written in a noisy and busy waiting area of Esnaf Hospital in Fethiye.

Surrounded by the sick and injured - quite a few of whom are holidaymakers or expats, we wondered how many foreigners have bothered to take out insurance.

In this article we look at what you are, and are not entitled to, as a foreigner in Turkey, whether you are a visitor or a resident.  We also tell you about this month's KTLN poll, on the subject.

High standards
But first, some good news.  KTLN has spoken to many people who have used the Turkish health service - mostly in private hospitals in Fethiye and Antalya, and the standard of care provided is high.  Moreover, the time it takes to be seen, diagnosed and treated is short - with no long waiting lists to endure. 

Visitors
If you are coming to Kalkan on holiday, you will find that generally speaking, there is no free health service.  Your little plastic European Health Insurance card does not work in Turkey.  If you need to see a doctor, or visit the hospital, there will be a bill to pay.

One exception to this rule is where you are involved in a road traffic accident.  If it is a serious accident, where the Traffic Police attend to make a report, you will find that some of your emergency treatment is provided free of charge.  But it is far from straightforward.  Government hospitals will pay most or all of your costs, but in private hospitals, such as Letoon or Esnaf in Fethiye, only part of the bill will be covered.

If you suffer a minor illness whilst abroad, it may make only a small dent in your holiday budget - you may need to cut back on your restaurant visits.  However, if you are unfortunate enough to require an operation and a stay in hospital, you could easily be looking at thousands of pounds.

And in the event of your death, your family will inherit a significant bill, if your body is to be repatriated.  The last example we heard of, was in the region of £15,000.

Travel insurance
The answer of course, is to take out travel insurance.  Nobody likes paying an insurance premium, but can you afford not to have it?

This year, KTLN has heard of visitors who have required costly hospital treatment, and sadly we know of one fatality.  We all say it won't happen to us, but the statistics tell us that accidents will happen.

The advice of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is to get yourself insured, before you travel.  And in case you were wondering, the FCO will provide you with assistance in the event of a serious problem, whilst you are in Turkey, but they won't lend you money to pay for your medical bills.

Residents
For the purposes of this article, when we refer to 'residents' we mean those foreign nationals who have obtained residency permission (ikamet).

As many KTLN readers will know, long term residency by way of back to back visa runs is set to become impossible, when the new 90/180 day visa system is introduced.  There is still no news on when this system, put on ice last summer, will be finally implemented.  Confusingly, new visa stickers are being used, even though we are still on the old system.

Registration
At the end of 2010, Turkey rolled out a new family doctor health scheme, which means that all residents have to register with a local doctor (GP).  You can read more about this scheme, and what it means for residents, in this earlier KTLN news article: Family doctor scheme

If you are one of the many people who has just taken out residency, following the reduction in fees, you should register with a local doctor once your Turkish ID number (kimlik) has been registered on the government computer system.  It takes between 6 to 8 weeks from when your ikamet was issued.

If you want to check if you have got your kimlik, click on the following link.  You need to input your year of birth and your ikamet number.  Search for kimlik

Health Insurance (Sağlık Sigorta)
As far as hospitals are concerned, residents do not get free treatment.  The official advice is to take out health insurance, (sağlık sigorta), however the situation is somewhat complicated by the Turkish government's recent announcements on the subject.

In Turkey there are different health insurance schemes.  For the sake of simplicity, we are dividing them into private health insurance (e.g. from a provider like Yapı Kredi), or a government health insurance (SGK). 

Some time ago, the government announced that all foreign residents had to take out the government health insurance (SGK), by October 2010.  However, they suspended this requirement indefinitely, when many people raised queries about how the scheme was to be implemented.  For example, why would someone have to take out SGK if they already had private health insurance?

The Turkish Social Security Department is still working on plans to reintroduce this scheme, but in the meantime it leaves many people not knowing which way they should go when choosing health insurance - should they go for private health insurance or buy SGK.  There are differences in benefits and cost, so you really need to study the smallprint. 

As soon as there is an announcement on this, you will be able to read about it on KTLN.

Who needs insurance?
So if you are a resident, do you need to have health insurance?  Well, putting aside the confusion over SGK, and the legalities of what you should do, let's look at this from a practical perspective.

KTLN knows of quite a few residents who have recently had to have inpatient treatment in Turkish hospitals.  Some of these individuals had very serious injuries, with the cost of treatment running to several thousand Turkish Lira. 

So the question is, are you prepared to run the risk of having to pay out a significant sum of money in an emergency situation?  Indeed, can you afford to pay out thousands, or tens of thousands of Turkish Lira?

Having health insurance brings you peace of mind.  If the worst happens, then the cost of significant hospital treatment is one less thing to worry about.

KTLN poll
This month's KTLN poll is all about travel and health insurance.  We think it would be interesting to know how many people have it, and how many are prepared to take the risk of not having it.

Here are your options, which we break down into travellers and Kalkan residents.  Choose the one that fits you best.

When in Kalkan, do you have travel or health insurance?

• Traveller - with travel insurance
• Traveller - without travel insurance
• Resident - with SGK (government) health insurance
• Resident - with private health insurance
• Resident - without health insurance

In case you were wondering, we won't be selling you insurance!  All your replies are confidential.

As ever, registered members can find the poll on the right hand side of our home page.

Kalkan Turkish Local News - your window on Kalkan Turkey