S G K Health Insurance FIASCO - Urgent

[saoirse]

I assumed it would be the travel insurance ( long term) as thats what covers me when in Turkey not NHS cover

[Dutchie]

You've got a point there.
However in the letter they mention a medical insurance in your home country.

[saoirse]

quote:Originally posted by Dutchie

According to the newspaper article and the letter, you can be fined if you don't get it fixed before January 31st.
Personally I wouldn't wait for the letter to arrive but just go to the SGK before then.

Again for people like me who dont even live in Turkey this is impossible!

[wallace]

What I fail to understand is why the embassy has nothing
on its website, what are all these highly paid civil
servants doing for their money, they ask for expats to
register with them, surely a blanket email would be something
or at least the latest information on their website which has'nt
been updated since 27 Sep 2010, If they can give verbal
info surely they have a duty to update the website.

[Dutchie]

@Saoirse

They probably hadn't thought about that.

And like I wrote before, it will come down to semantics.
It is written everywhere that the rule affects foreigners with a one year residence permit but that's not what written in the letter.

They use the words "having residence/being a resident for more than one year uninterrupted".

The word residence permit is not being used.

Maybe they mean foreigners who have been in Turkey for more than year without having left the country [?]

[saoirse]

Possibly Dutchie- certainly the term uninterrupted would suggest actually living there for a year as opposed to just holding an RP. Thanks for your help

[Carolyn1957]

quote:Originally posted by wallace

What I fail to understand is why the embassy has nothing
on its website, what are all these highly paid civil
servants doing for their money, they ask for expats to
register with them, surely a blanket email would be something
or at least the latest information on their website which has'nt
been updated since 27 Sep 2010, If they can give verbal
info surely they have a duty to update the website.

I agree with your comments about the website although I guess even they are stuck in this guessing game with ever moving goal posts and until there is some level of certainty and confirmation of implementation dates they are being cautious. There can be no room for error on their website so presumably they are as cautious as the rest of us.

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Willy Buttigieg at the Consulate in Izmir. He has worked tirelessly on our behalf to get this issue resolved and has made representations to and about the Manager of the SGK office in Fethiye who appears to have made one or two unilateral decisions about eligibility.

[shutterbug]

quote:Originally posted by saoirse
True, you can do that, but it is not legal in the UK. If you are out of the country for 6 months in a year, anywhere, even on holiday, you lose your rights to all benefits including NHS.
AND there have been too many people here relying on that who have become very ill and had to have treatment here, lost everything, gone back and then been handed a big bill by the hospital in the UK when they left...or family had if they died. One of the reasons for this change here.

This would make more sense to me as its possible to hold an RP and still be fully on NHS books back home so what need would there be for Turkish cover ( trav ins whilst there)

Curiouser and curiouser!!

[shutterbug]

You cannot rely on travel insurance in the country where you reside. If you have a residence permit, you reside in that country.
The UK gov't stopped paying my state retirement from the UK until I signed a 'life certificate' stating that I lived in Turkey. It took 3 months of wrong information from the office, calls from supervisors, all telling me things that were not true. Finally I got the paper and signed it and faxed it back. THEN I got my money. At which point I decided to have it deposited here. Another 3 months to work out how to do an international transfer of funds. Now if the British Gov't is that difficult, don't' be surprised at the confusion here.
It's all about bureaucracy. All governments have it and they all screw things up. It is a universal issue.
And even if you got away with the 'I've got travel insurance and a resident permit here, your claim would be inspected and denied if you had to use it. I know, I used to sell the stuff.  

quote:Originally posted by saoirse

I assumed it would be the travel insurance ( long term) as thats what covers me when in Turkey not NHS cover

[apollo]

What is the procedure at the SSK office?
Do they give you a form to fill in and what documents must you show?

Thanks in advance.