Ali M. Says:
Is healthcare in Ireland expensive?
IL Executive Editor Jennifer Stevens Says:
Hi Ali,
Healthcare in Ireland is modern and First World—as you would expect from any Western European country. The doctors are well trained to the highest standards and, of course, all speak English.
Doctor’s appointments are easy to get and affordable. A visit to a general practitioner in Ireland costs around $50. Where you’ll see a real savings compared to the U.S., though, is in further treatment.
Ireland has a publicly funded health service (called the Health Service Executive) that provides free and subsidized healthcare to people “normally resident” in Ireland. This means that, as an expat living in Ireland, you can get treatment in a publicly funded hospital either for free, or for a low cost thanks to government subsidies.
For example, if you needed to visit an emergency room in Ireland, the charge would be $100. That’s unless you needed to be admitted to hospital, in which case you could pay $80 per day, to a maximum charge of $800 in a 12-month period.
The main issue reported with the Irish public healthcare system is long waiting times. Not for emergencies, of course, but for less-urgent surgeries it can take some weeks (or in some cases, longer) to get an appointment.
This is why many people living in Ireland opt for private health insurance to augment the public system. If you choose to buy health insurance, you can take advantage of Ireland’s two-tier health system and book your surgery with the private system to get it much faster.
Health insurance in Ireland isn’t expensive, and you can get coverage from as little as $555 per year. You can read about the Irish healthcare system, including what it takes to be considered “normally resident” so you can use the public system, on the dedicated page of our website.
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