Need to pay full price for medicine after 1.5 years in Greece, why? Need assistance with translating and explaining (Explination in the comment)

15 comments

  1. So i live in Greece for 1.5 years, im taking prescribed medicine. Last visit (1.7.22) i was told that now i need to pay full price for the medicine (which jumped from 3€ to 30€ and im need like 5 boxes so u can imagine how much i gotta pay now) – and i got this paper from the doc explaining it but i don’t know the rules in Greece about health insurance as i thought i did. Can anyone explain why i need to pay full price? (I used to go to “private doctors” that i ordered from an official site and not going IKA or hospitals) -Thanks in advance 🙂

  3. You don’t have insurance. The government modified Law N.4368/2016, which gave uninsured people equal access to the system. Prescriptions from private practicioners won’t be covered by the state anymore.

    You’ll have to pay 100% of the price.

    Nothing has changed for the public ESY hospitals and clinics (PEDY, TOMY, KY, IKA)

  6. Get your prescriptions from a public hospital and it’ll go back down to 0%. The law for uninsured citizens (you) doesn’t cover prescriptions from private doctors anymore.

  7. What you are saying has no meaning. Are you working in Greece ? If yes, are you paying taxes for insurance? Are you an EU national ?

    You need to answer every question that I asked if you want a meaningful answer. For the rest the comment of GrentAve22 is correct.

  8. Till 31 December 2021 if you had no insurance (like you don’t) , you could go to pharmacy and use the prescription your private doctor gave you with 0% paying on the “starting” price of your medicine. That means that if you took the cheapest medicine you need you paid 0 euro, if you took a more expensive one you only paid for the difference in price.

    For instance, if the cheapest medicine costed 27 euros and the one your doctor suggested costed 30, then you only paid for the 3 euro difference between the two of them.

    Since 1st July 2022, all uninsuranced people cannot get their medicine for free, unless a public doc gave them the prescription. So now someone would have to pay for the whole 30eu ammount. You can see a doc in a hospital, or public local health network so you don’t have to pay for your prescription.

    That been said, I just want to state that even if this government had done nothing of the atrocious things they’ve done, this one should be enough for them going to courts for being traitors of their own people

  10. First of all, I dont suppose you are working for an NGO regarding refugees etc? Because that law (43682016) had a lot to do about that and medical insurance is slightly different in that case.

    In any other case, you can ask your employer about your national insurance status as I am sure they pay for insurance costs (unless an NGO). Then as the previous people said, there are private doctors that still can be considered part of Ε.Ο.Π.Υ.Υ (nhs in essence) and/or private pharmacies that are compliant with the new regulations and you have to use them to gain access to the full array of services. It explains a bit more in the link (google translate it if its not in english) and there are search tools to find doctors/pharmacies in your area that can assist you etc as they are considered part of the public health system.
    https://www.gov.gr/ipiresies/ugeia-kai-pronoia/iatropharmakeutike-perithalpse

    But if I was in your shoes and didn’t know the language at all, I would ask one of my Greek colleagues for help as Greek Bureaucracy is legendary when it comes to red tape and running in circles 🙂

  11. If you’re working legally the system (EFKA) hasn’t added you yet on the database. It’s supposed to be automatic but it doesn’t always happen. You need to book an appointment with your local efka office and basically tell them to add you on the system. It’s a two sec. job. I had a similar problem when i returned to Greece from abroad.

    P.S Have you checked if you are actually legally working by logging to ergani.gov?

  12. There’s been some years now where the notion of a “family doctor” has been introduced. Find a GP that is under EOPYY. Their job are to do initial screening and write referals and/or prescriptions needed. Doctors not part of EOPYY only accept certain insurances, although they should accept national insurance too. Visitation would cost more though. You got issued your AMKA 15 months ago. Ask your job’s accountant’s if you are beeing insured through IKA and if not, why. If you are being insured through IKA, do you have your AMA (Insurance Number) and if not, where have they been paying your insurance all this time? If you don’t have your AMA and you are insured through IKA you should go to the office responsible for the area you are living in to issue your number and present it to your job’s accounting office.

  13. Best thing you can do is reach out to your company’s HR so they can guide you further. Maybe there’s an error on their system or IKA

  14. Just get your meds from a doctor that works in a public hospital or in a public medical center. You will not pay anything. Stop overcomplicating. Your insurance is working.

  15. Δεν μπορώ να καταλάβω γιατι, θα πρέπει να πληρώνουμε τα φάρμακα όταν πάμε σε ΕΟΠΥ αλλά όχι όταν πάμε στο νοσοκομείο; Ήταν που ηταν γεμάτα τα νοσοκομεία τώρα θα γίνετε της πουτανας! Δεν φτανει που οι γιατροί ΕΟΠΥ κανουν την χαρη στο κράτος, τωρα θα εχουν και λιγότερο δουλεια, ενο θα χειροτερεύει το πρόβλημα που υπάρχει ήδη με τα νοσοκομεία

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