Medical insurance for Prague

[grandpa cruiser]

Still considering a river cruise next spring. Our TA has advised that the Czech republic requires extensive health coverage for tourist entering. Has anyone had any experiences with challenges of their policies. Do we have to travel with our entire insurance policy? We usually carry our small card, but that does not list our entire coverage.

 

Comments from anyone who has had exerience entering Prague would be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks!

[coasters]

Still considering a river cruise next spring. Our TA has advised that the Czech republic requires extensive health coverage for tourist entering. Has anyone had any experiences with challenges of their policies. Do we have to travel with our entire insurance policy? We usually carry our small card, but that does not list our entire coverage.

 

Comments from anyone who has had exerience entering Prague would be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks!

 

Thanks for your inquiry!

Although I have visited Prague and was never questioned about this, it DOES appear that there are insurance requirements.

Here's what I found.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1099.html

Hope this helps.

Jerry

[usavvy2]

we traveled by ship from Budapest to Nuremberg and then bussed by the ship to Prague. No border stop although we had to have our passports in hand just in case. No one asked about travel insurance when we departed from Prague airport a few days ago. That being said, you'll want to ensure that you have coverage (for example, Medicare does NOT cover you when you step off USA soil). The coverage for Czech Republic was higher than that of the other parts of the trip but if you took insurance thru the cruise ship (we didn't), they upped the insurance for that portion of the trip. We bought our own insurance through insuremytrip.com and made sure we were covered for the amount required by the Czech Republic.

 

hope this helps.

[jaybell]

We flew into Prague and were there for 3 days on the AMA Legendary Danube cruise in late August. We were never aware of any of the above. :confused:

[tiggypooo]

I believe that you must have a minimum of $25,000. in medical Ins. before they allow you into the country.

They apparently are very strict about it and will check that you have it.

They don't want to get stuck repatriating anyone.

[letsgo39]

I had heard about this before I traveled there in 2007. Nobody ever checked anything but we were told by our CD that your travel insurance would cover it if needed. I guess the real purpose of the law is intended for people who go there for extended periods of time. They don't want to get stuck paying the bills for their immigrants.Sounds like we could use the same law.I have never heard of anyone who has actually even been checked.

[usavvy2]

We flew into Prague and were there for 3 days on the AMA Legendary Danube cruise in late August. We were never aware of any of the above. :confused:

 

it was in our documentation that was sent by the tour operator. Not that obvious but there just the same.

[Livestotravel]

We finished our Danube river cruise in Prague and we were never asked about insurance. Perhaps because we were just there for three days? We flew home from there. We did have travel insurance, and perhaps we would have "passed the test" if asked. This trip was a few years ago.

[grandpa cruiser]

Thanks for all your replys. We do have medical coverage, but no where on our card does it spell out what we have. Sounds like we should be ok.

 

once again, thanks for all your valuable information!!

 

To all of the Canadian posters , have a great long Thanksgiving weekend!!!!

[usavvy2]

Thanks for all your replys. We do have medical coverage, but no where on our card does it spell out what we have. Sounds like we should be ok.

 

once again, thanks for all your valuable information!!

 

To all of the Canadian posters , have a great long Thanksgiving weekend!!!!

 

My best advice is:

If I were you, I'd call the travel insuranace company and ask them specifically how much you're covered for and then ask how much if you travel to the Czech Republic. Actually they should provide documentation that spells it out clearly - otherwise, if something DID happen, how would you know how much you're covered for and how much is out of pocket? I'd ask them to send it to you in writing.

[tiggypooo]

Grandpa...... Somewhere on your Insurance policy it will state the limitations of your Ins. coverage. For out of country medical coverage, on most of our policies from Canada, it will either give you a maximum allowable amount, or it will say unlimited.

Check with your agent if you bought the coverage from one and they will tell you what your coverage is.

For everyone that was not checked in the Czech Rep. for Ins. coverage, I guess that you were lucky. I've had reports of people being denied entrance, for having no proof of coverage.

[letsgo39]

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/health-insurance-verification.cfm

 

Here is a discussion from Fodors about this subject. It appears that the purpose of the regulation per Czech Republic Embassy is to keep people out of the country that they want to. There is no way that they are going to start harrasing tourists and there is no real record of anyone who has actually been checked.

[grandpa cruiser]

thank you letsgo39, my mind is now at ease. I was getting concerned about the documentation. It does make sense that they are not going to alienate tourists and possibly have them circumvent the Czech Rep. just to avoid the hassle.

[usavvy2]

thank you letsgo39, my mind is now at ease. I was getting concerned about the documentation. It does make sense that they are not going to alienate tourists and possibly have them circumvent the Czech Rep. just to avoid the hassle.

 

no but I'd think you'd still want the documentation just in case you did need to use it???????

[usavvy2]

apparently two threads with the same topic. Here's the linky to the other thread. Perhaps a moderator can merge the two.

[rico567]

Our river cruise ended in Budapest....we stayed there a couple of extra days, then took the train to Prague, stayed 3 days, then on to Vienna. The subject of health insurance never came up, either entering, during our stay, or leaving. That was in '03, maybe things have changed.

 

Countries are to a greater or lesser extent concerned about the health coverage of persons within their borders. Often, lacking insurance coverage, the government involved may end up picking up the bill. It's just like making sure people have visas and passports good for a certain amount of time, round-trip tickets, etc. They don't want to be stuck with tourists who suddenly transform into dependents or indigents, and I suppose I can't blame them for that.