03.31.06
Ear Infections
I got to test the Italian health care system today. Chloe woke up at about 2 AM with an earache. She has never had one before, and she was crying nearly the whole night. Nothing we gave her seemed to relieve the pain. So we headed to the ER this morning. It came on so quickly that it kind of made us nervous.
I checked her in (I always have to write my name down when asked for it - I’ve yet to find an Italian who can spell Rotert) and we sat and waited. About 20 minutes later Chloe was on the table getting examined by a very kind doctor/nurse who even spoke some English to her. She quickly confirmed the diagnosis, and wrote a prescription. I asked her where I need to go pay and she kind of shrugged her shoulders. All Italians have all of their health care paid for in full by the government. So they’re not really set up to bill individuals. She said that they had our address and if we needed to pay something we would be billed. I filled the prescriptions (also free for Italians) for the grand total of about $40. Not a bad deal really.
Foreigners can buy into the program for about $500 per year for the entire family! Since we’ve just settled in, we haven’t really looked into it, but how can you beat that?
Oh - Chloe’s already feeling a little better.