Health Care

I am not rocking, I am going to whine.

My worst fears have been confirmed.

We were initiated into the Italian healthcare system. The paedatrician's a really nice guy (though very Italian - always rubbing my shoulders) and the kids like him. He also took his own sweet time with us (we were there after cabinet hours, remember?). Only hic was that I had forgotten the kids' carnets de santé which contain all their past medical records.

It was so late Hubby even managed to turn up towards the end. Just when we were going to pay (our green public health cards wouldn't work as he wasn't the doctor mentioned on them). Unlike in France, prices were not posted anywhere in the cabinet. And I think we made the mistake of telling him that we have this private health insurance with FISDAF (an insurance available only to Dirigentes and above in the FIAT Group), because he beamed and told us that it was a good insurance (which is not true as we were to discover soon) and promptly wrote out 2 bills for 70 euros each.

You know that I am a Chinese born and bred because though I wanted to squeak and faint in front of the guy, I die die also tried to save face and managed to control myself - but barely.

Goodness, in Singapore, you go to the private doctor at the void deck of the flat opposite and the consultation plus medicine will normally cost around 15 euros. Why the hell should the guy be charging 70 for each child??? Especially when a guy with the right green card would have had the same consultation for free?

And when I went to the pharmacy to fill out the prescription (they do not reimburse medicine in Italy) the next day, I did a double turn when I was asked to pay 80 euros for 1 cream, 2 nasal sprays and a cough syrup. 41,41 euros for the small tube of cream for eczema. I've never bought cream from Chanel but certainly it wouldn't cost as much?

No wonder the Italians are not having kids. Preventive care is not their thing at all. And they will soon find out that this is a big mistake as it'll cost them more in the long run.

And those of you in Asia may wonder why I'm whining. Wah, free consultations, reimbursements...Nothing in most asian countries, ok?

Well, you normally need not subscribe to the public health insurance system either. Every month here, whether you need to see a doctor or not you pay and you pay quite alot. So it breaks your heart when you are badly or not at all reimbursed when you finally use the system.

So I will try to see if I could put the guy down as my family doctor (so that future visits will be for free) but I was told that it will be a huge bureaucratic process to change the names on the green cards. And he may be less motivated to work for us once he starts being paid the public rates. You can't win either way.

Meanwhile, remember the mouse I mentioned the other day? Well, I may have accidentally squashed it when I moved my boxes 'coz Hubby just found it all flat and dried up a few minutes ago. Eeeks.