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KTLN health seminar on Friday cancelled PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
ShareSadly, and with much regret, we have decided to cancel the planned health insurance seminar this Friday, at the Pirat Hotel in Kalkan.

Over 50 people had registered an interest, and were due to attend, however for reasons that we set out below, we do not feel that the seminar would have delivered what we originally envisaged and intended.

In this article we also provide an update on the SGK Universal Health Insurance (UHI) situation.

Cancelling the seminar
The main reason we originally chose to have this seminar on 17th September was so that we could provide guidance for people in relation to the upcoming 1st October deadline for registering under the new SGK UHI scheme.  Despite our best efforts, we are not in a position to be able to provide definitive advice.

Further, some of the people who were to attend and speak to us, are now unable to come, or their attendance is doubtful.  We are not going to run the risk of holding a seminar without some of the key speakers we require.

We would rather not hold the seminar, than deliver something that is not fit for purpose.  We apologise for having to cancel, but we feel we had no choice.

SGK Universal Health Insurance
Please refer to the earlier KTLN local news report for background to this.  Below, we provide you with the latest position, as we understand it.

Essentially, under a new law (statute 5510), foreigners with residency, who have lived in Turkey for at least one year, may take out government health insurance, at a cost of around 182TL per month.  If you wish to take advantage of this scheme, it has been widely reported that you must register with the SGK by 1st October 2010.

The official translation of the legislation runs to 94 pages of mostly legal jargon.  Two hours (and two paracetamols) later, we gave up.  We also read an SGK leaflet, in English, on this specific subject (see below).

Unfortunately, there remains, in our view, a lack of clarity on a whole range of points of detail, including the fundamental question of whether this is a mandatory or a voluntary scheme.

In our attempt to get a clear understanding, KTLN has spoken to lawyers, accountants, medical practicioners, journalists, and a couple of SGK offices.  We have also been in touch with the British Embassy in Turkey, and even they are not in a position to provide a definitive answer, as they are still waiting to hear from the Turkish authorities.  (When they are, they will publish something on their website).

In fact, the more people we speak to, the more variations on an answer we get.  Consequently, we are not in a position to deliver what we originally intended at our seminar.

We sincerely hope that clear guidance is forthcoming before the 1st October registration deadline.  As soon as there is an official view, please be assured that you will be able to read about it on KTLN.

SGK Health Benefits Leaflet
KTLN has obtained 10 copies of the SGK leaflet in English, and we are happy to give these away on a first come first served basis. You can also get them at SGK offices.

We summarise some of the key messages below.
"Foreign nationals who have a residency permit that are not covered and insured within a foreign country regulation are considered for general health insurance, on the condition that the rule of reciprocity is considered".

"In this case, those who have a residence permit in Turkey and do not have insurance in a foreign country shall be accepted within 'general health insurance decrees' within the frame of law no. 5510 in Turkey".

"On the condition that the rule of reciprocity is also considered, those foreign nationals who have a residence permit and do not have insurance within a foreign countries regulations and are not included within obligatory insurance because they are employed in Turkey, those who reside in Turkey for more than one year are entitled to general health insurance from the date that their residence period exceeds one year in Turkey, and as of this date, they will be registered after they give the entry statement of general health insurance to the Social Security Institution [SGK] within one month of that date.  As a result of this, and that they pay the determined premium, they will be entitled to receive health benefit".

The KTLN interpretation of the wording in this leaflet, is that this sets out your entitlements, as a foreign resident.  However, nowhere in this wording is there any suggestion that registration is compulsory.  We would have thought that if registration was mandatory, then the leaflet would mention this point.  We stress that this is only the KTLN interpretation, and not official guidance.

Watch for further updates on KTLN.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 September 2010