Luxury hospitals.....
For rich people only ?
City hospitals can provide services very close to these private hospitals. The only difference is that in private hospitals you are treated as if you were staying in a 5-star hotel, while city hospitals examination services are often crowded. City Hospitals, which are built with the Public-Private Partnership model of the Ministry of Health, are Public Hospitals and their ownership belongs to the Ministry of Health. There is no additional fee in City Hospitals. Whatever fee is paid in State Hospitals, the same fee is charged in City Hospitals.
The Turkish health system has a much wider range of free health services than most European countries and US states. Some of the health services are completely free of charge: Emergencies and incidents, Occupational accidents and occupational diseases, Infectious diseases, Preventive health services (drug and alcohol addiction), Childbearing, Extraordinary events (injuries caused by natural disasters), Fertility treatment for women under 39 years of age, Dental and oral health, Medical surgery are covered by the Social Insurance Institution. There have also been huge improvements in inpatient care. City hospitals have been part of this major breakthrough.
In addition, there are free(under insurance) health services that you can receive in private hospitals too within the scope of SSI, for example, health services provided due to emergencies, intensive care services, burn treatment services, cancer treatment (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, radio isotope treatments), health services provided to newborns, organ, tissue and stem cell transplants, health services for surgical procedures for congenital anomalies, dialysis treatments, cardiovascular surgery procedures cannot charge additional fees.
In addition, regardless of any insurance coverage, it is prohibited to charge any fees, except for hotel services, to persons who receive honor pensions in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Granting of Honor Pensions for Patriotic Service, persons who receive pensions in accordance with the provisions of the Law No. 2330 on the Granting of Cash Compensation and Pensions, persons who receive war invalidity pensions, persons who receive pensions within the scope of the Anti-Terrorism Law and their dependents.
For the remaining segments and services, in the past, low-income citizens were provided free of charge within the scope of full health services through the green card scheme. As of 2012, unemployed people have been covered by the Social Security Institution (GSS) and the monthly premium for this health insurance is the equivalent of 12-14 euros. In this context, almost all of your health expenses, including imaging services, tests and some chemotherapy drug preparations on hospitals, are covered by the state. Even if you have not paid GSS premiums for 1 year, you can benefit from uninterrupted health care.
This accessibility of health services also has some negative aspects. For example, people occupy code yellow examination services in emergency rooms. (Think of it like going for a routine check-up at night or after work) Or, up to 30% of people miss their appointments or do not show up for medical examinations, therefore, compared to 5-6 years ago, the desired level of appointment scheduling is moving away from the desired level. There are health services that I have to go to regularly because of some health problems. There is no problem in control examinations, but in the first examination appointment procedures, in some specialization areas, it is no longer possible to make an appointment 3-5 days later in the e-mhrs system. However, when you create a record in the system and leave a note, you are informed by sms when there is a avaliablity in appointments, and if you click on the relevant link address as soon as you see that message, you can immediately make an appointment for a day or 2 days later.
To summarize, the SSI system is the institution that receives the largest share of the public budget in the country and has a total of free services and health insurance that can be considered successful for a country of 85 million people. (+10 million foreigners, more than 5 million of whom are under temporary protection status, meaning they have access to free health services with the support of various funds)
However, this is not the only aspect of the Turkish health system. Private clinics and specialized hospitals in particular have become a global health tourism center with patients coming from all over Europe. Revenues from health tourism reached 2 billion dollars in 2022. Dental health, eye health, aesthetic surgery, hair transplantation and obesity clinics, as well as cancer treatment centers and various surgical specialty hospitals are leading the way. Instead of spending tens of thousands of euros in clinics due to a specific health problem that deeply affects your life in France, you can have your treatment here at half the cost and with much better accommodation conditions, you can even have your sea or nature / cultural trips according to the season, and you can return home with your treatment and your vacation. On your way back, you may consider questioning your country's health system, knowing that Turkish people have free access to most of these. As hundreds of French people do every year.
