Do I need medical insurance to enter Ukraine?

[dxg68 0]

I am going to Ukraine my first time to meet with my fiancé around Christmas time. Am I required by Ukrainian law to show or have any kind of medical / emergency coverage to enter the country?

Thank you very much for your advice!!!

Edited December 10, 2009 by dxg68

[jimnlena 8]

I had my insurance card with me, but no one asked or mentioned insurance when I visited in June. I have seen posts where I thought I would have to buy temporary at airport but nothing! Of course no sickness or injury so I do not know what would of happened,

[Joe_&_Nadiya 1]

No, you are not required to have insurance. Nice to have one though. I got sick in one of my trips to Ukraine and called a clinic which has English speaking doctors/staff to make an appointment. Of course my insurance didn't cover it, so I believe they were charging something like U$150+ for the consultation. They even had a website with the price list.

[leith@Ievgeniia 8]

for few dollars you can go to www.insuremytrip.com and buy medical and emergancy evacutaion coverage. worth the few dollars and piece of mind

i use that site for all my international trips for years. very good and they send both email policy and mail policy.

enjoy your trip i will arrive in kiev on feb 1st and off to see my sweety and down to yalta for some nice r and r and time with her!!!

[LvivLovers 39]

When I went my first time, I wasn't sure if my insurance covered me in Ukraine or not and figured it would be easier/safer to get their coverage. I think they told me it was required even if I remember correctly. I bought it in the airport...for 2 weeks coverage I think it was like $20, so no big deal. On a later trip, the person that worked at the insurance stand wasn't there, so I guess it was only required while they were there. In any case, it's worth doing imo.

[payxibka 10,045]

I have never purchased coverage.... wouldn't even know where to if I wanted...

[1HappyGuy 45]

If you have insurance coverage here, you should contact your carrier to find out your options. If you have none, then finding temporary coverage might ease your mind. I have been taken to their clinics by my wife and there was never a question of payment, so that might be an option if you have a caring individual there to take you through the clinics. Obtaining medication has never been a problem. Your biggest problems will likely be language and your physical health. Be prepared to walk a lot.

[Martyshk 137]

Just get an insurance with your plane ticket. It's usually about $40. That's what I do when I go anywhere.

[visaveteran 1]

I got sick in Russia. They sent out an ambulance and decided I needed to go to the hospital. A Russian doctor examined me and prescribed some meds. No charge. No fees. Free.

They were quite excited to see an American at their hospital so I got treated well. But the facility was quite old and in no way compared to the USA facilities. This was in Siberia.

[dxg68 0]

As always thank you all for your responses! I am insured here and if they make me I will purchase their coverage at the airport.

Thanks!!!

[Brad and Vika 129]

I don't think they will make you buy insurance. Never purchased any, or been asked about it. I met another American in Odessa a year ago who fell and broke his leg in the city. No charge for the ambulance, hospital, or cast/treatment. He said that they have no way to charge insurance at the free state hospitals. I think a protracted stay would be a problem though, if you need food, meds, etc. past an emergency you usually pay I'm told.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am going to Ukraine my first time to meet with my fiancé around Christmas time. Am I required by Ukrainian law to show or have any kind of medical / emergency coverage to enter the country?

Thank you very much for your advice!!!

No. A US passport is all that is required. It is Ukraine, medical coverage or not my suggestion is...DO NOT get sick. The best medical coverage in Ukraine is provided by CASH. DO NOT get suckered into buying some short term medical insurance. The ony way you will get quick and anything resembling efficient medical care in Ukraine is by paying cash, under the table.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am going to Ukraine my first time to meet with my fiancé around Christmas time. Am I required by Ukrainian law to show or have any kind of medical / emergency coverage to enter the country?

Thank you very much for your advice!!!

I don't mean to be cynical, it is only true. Ukrainian medical clinics would not know what to do about insurance if you showed it to them. You will not be charged for any medical procedures in Ukraine at any time in any state clinic. The problem is if you really want to SEE a doctor on short notice you will have to pay cash, they couldn't care less about insurance, don't know what it is and have no idea what it is to be re-imbursed. They very well understand the concept of cash in hand.

You are probably going through an agency for your trip, find out who they suggest as a doctor. I am sure they have a friend who is a doctor. We pay a cash bribe to a doctor every year to be on his "call list" and also this covers my MIL. If we, or she. gets sick, we or she can call his cell phone and he will come...even leave the clinic... to care for his cash customers.

Ukrainian medical facilities can vary in quality from something on the order of a WW1 field hospital to a fairly modern hospital. Everything is in short supply in hospitals. Plan on someone to bring you food, medical dressings, supplies etc. They will also need to stay with you in the room to feed you, bathe you, etc. Insurance doesn't matter. You can wave around insurance cards all you want but you will be buying your own medical dressings at the Aptiyeka and if you leave them in the room they will promptly be stolen and sold to other patients for cash.

Alla has mixed feelings about our system here...excellent quality but scarey expensive and, she thinks driven buy the need to sell pills, blood tests, x-rays and insulin. However, I just had a very major hospitalization and she was amazed at how well I was taken care of and how everything was provided for and how paitients got "treatment like kings". It is also her opinion that had my situation happened in Ukraine "You would simply die quickly and be no problem at all"

[zqt3344 21]

Officially yes you are supposed to have it, but unofficially no one ever asks for it or bothers to check you!

I am going to Ukraine my first time to meet with my fiancé around Christmas time. Am I required by Ukrainian law to show or have any kind of medical / emergency coverage to enter the country?

Thank you very much for your advice!!!

[zqt3344 21]

Gary, you are 100000000000000000% right, what Gary says here is pretty much the way it is in Ukraine. My spouse was Ophthalmologist in Ukraine and is now in process of working as Dr here in USA, and is amazed at the difference in the way it is so expensive here for same drugs or treatments that in Ukraine or kopeks! For example you buy anything you want or need over the counter in the pharmacy in Ukraine, for about 5-10 times less, same exact stuff that you would have to buy here in USA with prescription and pay 10-20 times as much.

And there is no insurance coverage recognized like Gary says, which it is a waste of your time and a joke to worry about having it in Ukraine, they will only relate to cold hard cash. Gary bribe is such a harsh word here, in reference to the medical professionals of Ukraine. But true, many Dr work in public clinic or polyclinic, then supplement their meager salaries from government by pushing cash paying(bribes)customers to front of line and get immediate attention, and the more you pay the more you get. There are private clinics which you must realize, most of those are not free and they charge, they also work on a commission and salary like Dr in USA do, thus most Ukrainians cannot afford the private clinics and do not use them only the super rich of Ukraine can afford them.

And Gary is right about how crappy a clinic or hospital can look, from WW1 days field hospital to something modern. I have seen some pretty disgusting stuff, and true to his word, Gary is right on about how when you go in the hospital there you have to have your family come care with you and stay with you and do all the nursing duties literally, or either you will have to hire or pay someone, otherwise you are on your own to lay in your bed and heal on your own accord, there is little in the way of after operation care! 10000000000% right in what you describe there Gary. Most people there are written off for dead after 50 anyway!

Bottom line is, if you have the cash and can pay you will get what you want and need other wise it is no where near the level of a USA clinic and neither is the service, not that they cannot take care or you and treat you, just there is no incentive to do it unless they are paid that cash tip(bribe).

I don't mean to be cynical, it is only true. Ukrainian medical clinics would not know what to do about insurance if you showed it to them. You will not be charged for any medical procedures in Ukraine at any time in any state clinic. The problem is if you really want to SEE a doctor on short notice you will have to pay cash, they couldn't care less about insurance, don't know what it is and have no idea what it is to be re-imbursed. They very well understand the concept of cash in hand.

You are probably going through an agency for your trip, find out who they suggest as a doctor. I am sure they have a friend who is a doctor. We pay a cash bribe to a doctor every year to be on his "call list" and also this covers my MIL. If we, or she. gets sick, we or she can call his cell phone and he will come...even leave the clinic... to care for his cash customers.

Ukrainian medical facilities can vary in quality from something on the order of a WW1 field hospital to a fairly modern hospital. Everything is in short supply in hospitals. Plan on someone to bring you food, medical dressings, supplies etc. They will also need to stay with you in the room to feed you, bathe you, etc. Insurance doesn't matter. You can wave around insurance cards all you want but you will be buying your own medical dressings at the Aptiyeka and if you leave them in the room they will promptly be stolen and sold to other patients for cash.

Alla has mixed feelings about our system here...excellent quality but scarey expensive and, she thinks driven buy the need to sell pills, blood tests, x-rays and insulin. However, I just had a very major hospitalization and she was amazed at how well I was taken care of and how everything was provided for and how paitients got "treatment like kings". It is also her opinion that had my situation happened in Ukraine "You would simply die quickly and be no problem at all"