Retirees Struggle with UAE Health Insurance
Retired expats in the UAE report difficulties with accessing affordable health insurance. There is, they say, a shortage of packages for the over 60s, with a corresponding increase in premiums, especially if you have pre-existing conditions. One expat reported an annual cost of Dh30,000 ($8,168), which tripled after she had a knee operation. Although it’s a legal requirement to have health coverage in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some expats over the age of 70 say that they prefer to pay as they go. However, employer-paid health insurance is going to become mandatory nationwide from the beginning of next year.
Visitors May Need to Pay for Hospital Care in Tuscany
Visitors from outside the EU may need to pay for hospital care in Tuscany and have compulsory health insurance from September onwards, according to Italian health authorities. Apparently, the number of non-EU patients is currently outnumbering those from within Italy and other member states and the imbalance needs to be addressed for reasons of capacity and cost. Regional president Eugenio Giani told the local press that:
“A tidal wave of tourists is engulfing the emergency rooms at Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence and along the coast… If we travel to the US, we know that health insurance is required to avoid the considerable cost of treatment at the emergency room. By the same reasoning, travellers who come to Italy from outside the European Union should do the same based on the principle of reciprocity.”
Any extra funding, he says, will go towards the cost of first responder units and reducing waiting lists. If you’re a non-EU expat in Tuscany, will you be affected? No: the new legislation will only apply to visitors, not residents or those temporarily living in the region.
Avoiding the Covid ‘Summer Wave’
Covid has died down in the news, but it’s still around, and health experts warn of a ‘summer wave.’ Overall, the new variants of the illness, such as FLiRT, are much milder than before. They seem to involve digestive as well as respiratory issues. But where in Europe is the so-called ‘summer wave’ at its peak?
The UK has among the highest numbers of Covid cases at the moment – 17,800 in mid July. Greece is reporting an increased rate of hospital admissions, which have tripled since this time last year, and some hospitals have made mask wearing mandatory again. The WHO reports that cases have quadrupled in Malta and Luxembourg. There have also been high case numbers in The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal. In Portugal, cases have risen by over 700% in the past few months.
Symptoms from Omicron’s descendants, collectively known as FLiRT, include fatigue, fever, body aches, gastric issues, chills, congestion, cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache, and loss of taste and/or smell. However, it’s difficult to assess case numbers at the moment, as countries are no longer engaged in the big testing programmes, What does seem to be the case is that hospitalisations are nowhere near their former peak. The BBC reports that there were 3.31 admissions per 100,000 people in mid June, compared with 2.67 per 100,000 in the previous week. Most of those admitted to hospital in the UK are over 85. However, British hospitals are no longer routinely testing people for Covid.
Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in epidemiology from the University of East Anglia, told the BBC that we are ‘probably seeing about as much infection this year as we were seeing last year,’ with ‘far fewer’ deaths and hospitalisations than last year, too. Professor Hunter added:
“We are all of us going to get repeated Covid infections from birth through to death. Generally what we’ve seen is that over the last three years, four years, the severity of illness associated with Covid has gone down a lot. Ultimately, it’s going to become another cause of the common cold and, for many people, that’s what it is now. To be honest, you can’t really avoid it because it’s so common.”
Rise in Medical Tourism in the UK
The UK press reported a rise in medical tourism into the UK, using statistics published by the government-backed Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). Their findings show that non-UK patients accounted for 10,640 hospital admissions last year, including in some NHS institutions (Private Patient Units), and that the number of medical tourists has increased by 800% over the past decade.
Most of these people have come from the Middle East, followed by patients from Ireland and Nigeria. The bulk of patients were seeking cancer treatment such as chemotherapy.
A laugh a Day…
…does apparently keep the doctor away, according to a new law in Japan’s Yamagata province. Residents are now obliged to laugh at least once daily. The new legislation is based on a study by Yamagata’s University’s Faculty of Medicine linking laughter to an increased lifespan. You won’t be subject to any penalties if you prove to be naturally glum, however.