Dingle - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any particular health concerns? What is the quality of available medical care? What medical conditions typically require medical evacuation?
We have a new hospital opening in May and a good clinic with four regular doctors and another doctor's office on Main. The care is OK, but if you have a really serious emergency you would need to be ambulanced or air lifted to Tralee. I don't know the level of care the new hospital will provide. We have VHI private insurance for a couple and pay 1100 per year for the B level policy. Doctor's visits cost 40 Euro with or without insurance. A couple can pay no more than 100 Euro per month for medicine without the government reimbursing you. I take Prilosec which can be purchased OTC in the States for about 30/month but costs 75 per month here and needs a scrip. Most other meds are MUCH cheaper here than in the US. The insurance we carry allows us to go to a private hospital, instead of the public ones, which lack of bed space and have a waiting list for non-emergency procedures. The doctors are all well trained, but the hygeine is not quite as intense as you would see in a US hospital. Of course when I fell and broke my arm the x-rays and emergency visit only cost me 40 Euro and that was without insurance! Yeah for socialized medicine! - Feb 2009
