Countries in the European Union have an agreement that if someone from one EU country is in another EU counttry and they have a health problem, it is possible to get medical services from the visited country and the medical expenses are paid for by the country of origin. In Poland, this is a blue card, like a credit card, called Europejska Karta Ubezpieczenia Zdrowotnego (European Health Insurance Card). We had it when Joan had the stroke in Spain almost 3 years ago. At that time the card was good for 4 years. Ours expired during the pandemic and we didn't renew it, until now.
The process involved going to the NFZ office, filling out the short application form, taking a number, and waiting your turn, usually 1/2-3/4 hour. We went there today, parked in the handicapped space in front of the door, went in and I filled out both applications. There was no one else waiting. The information person took our applications, put the information into her computer, and printed the cards. In 10 minutes we were all done. Checking the cards I was very surprised to see that they don't expire until December 14, 2042. That is 20 years from now. We may expire before they do. :-)
Kraje Unii Europejskiej zawar艂y umow臋, 偶e je艣li kto艣 z jednego kraju UE przebywa w innym kraju UE i ma problem zdrowotny, mo偶e skorzysta膰 z us艂ug medycznych w odwiedzanym kraju, a koszty leczenia pokrywa kraj pochodzenia. W Polsce jest to niebieska karta, jak karta kredytowa, zwana Europejsk膮 Kart膮 Ubezpieczenia Zdrowotnego. Mieli艣my j膮, gdy Joanna mia艂a udar w Hiszpanii prawie 3 lata temu. W tamtym czasie karta by艂a dobra przez 4 lata. Nasza wygas艂a podczas pandemii i nie odnowili艣my jej, a偶 do teraz.
Proces polega艂 na p贸j艣ciu do biura NFZ, wype艂nieniu kr贸tkiego wniosku, wzi臋ciu numerka i czekaniu na swoj膮 kolej, zwykle 1/2-3/4 godziny. Pojechali艣my tam dzisiaj, zaparkowali艣my na miejscu dla niepe艂nosprawnych przed drzwiami, weszli艣my i wype艂ni艂em oba wnioski. Nie by艂o nikogo innego czekaj膮cego. Osoba informacyjna wzi臋艂a nasze aplikacje, w艂o偶y艂a informacje do swojego komputera i wydrukowa艂a karty. W ci膮gu 10 minut wszyscy byli艣my gotowi. Sprawdzaj膮c karty by艂em bardzo zaskoczony, 偶e nie wygasaj膮 one do 14 grudnia 2042 roku. To jest 20 lat od teraz. By膰 mo偶e wyga艣niemy przed nimi :-)
