Medical Coverage - It's as Easy as V.Z.P. Part I
So, here is a tale about my foray into the Wonderful World of Medical Coverage in Prague.When we first received Ben's Offer Letter to become one of the EU Monster Employees, there was a spreadsheet that spelled out his offer and his benefits. One of the line items discussed medical coverage and stated that we could be added under a Family Plan at an additional deduction. Okay - no different than how the coverage in the States works. No problem. However, 5 months into our stay here we found that this was not the case at all. Ben is the only one covered by Monster - end of story. The kids and I are would be on our own to set up our health insurance and we would be footing the bill.
Now, it would be completely heartless to send us out into the big city of Prague with no connections in the works...enter a company called V.Z.P. There is a story there about our first interactions with this company but that is a tale for another day. Suffice it to say, after getting the information from their office I decided to have Monster help me out with the initial set up. Tuesday I had an appointment with Emilio Bayona, HR Coordinator at Monster. He helped me get through the forms (they were all in Czech) and offered to call the hospital I would need to take myself and the children to for our pre-screening appointments. There were 2 facilities to choose from, but Emilio weeded out the not-so-good option and told me I should go to Na Homolce Hospital out in Praha 5. Sounded good and they even have a web page in English! http://www.homolka.cz/en/
Unfortunately, that is right about where the shared language ends. So, as I leave my meeting with Emilio I ask him to please have the appointments made for Thursday the 30th...and not too early since we are slow going in the am... as Alex starts school on September 3rd and I really did not want her to miss any days. I also asked if he could make appointments for our new friends the Lavelanet-Knights, since they also need to get their kids on board with this V.Z.P. coverage and they are starting school the same day as Alex.
The next day I receive an email with our scheduled appointments and times...Hodson Family, September 4th at 8:15am...Lavelanet-Knight Family, September 7th at 9:30am. First Strike but we have learned that you take what you can get over here.
I then decide the best thing to do is a trial run since I have no idea where this hospital is and it looked like I would be getting up at the crack of dawn to manage getting us there for this God-awful appointment time. Funny, I never would have had a problem with this early am stuff in the US but then again I had the comfort of a remote-start vehicle with (2) DVD panels for the kids, a 10-minute commute from home to Doctor's Office, and the prospect of (3) Dunkin Donuts Drive-Thru's for an extra large wake-up coffee.
So I ask Alain if he would be interested in making the trial run with me since he will have to make the jaunt himself and if we knew where everything was, it would make our solo runs with the kids that much easier. We meet the next day - which was a trial all of itself as the Tram Line I decided to use to meet him in Andel had gone back to its original route but the old signs were still up at our stop. Needless to say, the Hodson Clan was late as usual.
We get to Andel and Alain informs me that we need to hop on a tram to go ONE stop to the Bus Station, where we are to pick up Bus 167 to bring us out to the unknown reaches of Praha 5. We finally get on a tram and go to the one stop. This sounds easy I am sure, but add in the fact that there are 2 adults and 4 children - 2 of which are in strollers which need to be carried up the stairs of the tram by the adults thus allowing the other 2 to wreak havoc and try to find seats...all for one stop...and I think you will start to catch on that this is no easy feat at all.
Now we are at the Bus Station. After a bit of looking around, we find the sign for our bus and go park ourselves on a bench to wait. Mind you, the bus was already there in the parking lot but keeping to a strict time frame is very big here in Prague and they will not pull up and begin to load passengers until the exact minute it says they will be there on the schedule.
Off we are on the bus trip to Nemocnice Na Homolce - the end of the line for this particular bus. As we are riding we see a sign for the hospital and a stop name that is so close that we begin to question our directions. A nice young woman gestures for our paperwork and tells us that we need to get off the bus. Perhaps for the locals this would have been correct but for us, no. So we wait for the next bus and stick to the plan of going to the end of the line...lo and behold, it drops us off right at the doors of the hospital. Amazing what directions can do when they are correct!
However, here comes Strike 2. We enter the hospital and have no idea where we need to go since our information only got us to the building...not through it. I see a sign for Information and there is a couple being assisted so I figure we are in great shape. I turn to tell Alain my plans on inquiring at the desk, turn back, and the info lady has disappeared into thin air. Either we have some coding on our foreheads that reads "Run...American Coming" which was highlighted by the hospital fluorescents or it was lunchtime. Just as we are about to give up, the Security Guard in the next enclosure starts the typical Czech to English Charade Game and points down a hallway. Go this way we ask? Ano...ano. Great - we are now heading in the correct direction for all of 250 feet until you need to know left or right. Once again feeling all hope is lost, we are ready to throw in the towel...or at least find someone else to ask...when my eyes spy one of the 25 words I know in Czech - Detske (Children). This is a major find! We notice that it is on a green board and it says Patro (Floor) 1. We go in the direction of the arrow and find yet another Information Center. I decide to ask again here while Alain handles potty breaks with the kids. I am rewarded with broken English and directions to follow the green tape line on the floor to the green elevator and get off at the 1st floor where I will follow signs ( in Czech) to the children's reception area. This is almost starting to be fun!
We follow the tape, find the elevator, go to the first floor, and find that there is no sign for this supposed Reception Area but there are plenty with Detske on it so we start the hunt. After the first right, we fell for a trick sign that told us to go right again. There was one small table with one small toy on it so it looked like it could be correct, however it ended up being a 2 office hall that ended in an apparent smoker's haven so we turned right around.
Deciding to continue down our initial path, we returned to the main hall and kept moving down it. Bathrooms - good to know, more offices - most locked but some with keys hanging off them, and then...there is was...the Children Play Area. This just had to be it! We let the kids runs lose and play and started checking the doors for any signs of reception, a matching doctor's name, or even life. There were 3 teenagers hanging out in the waiting area...a popular thing to do I guess since they never went into any office in the time I was there..., a sign that matched the doctor's name on our paperwork, and tons of things to keep the kids happy. However, the one thing that was still eluding us was this fabled reception area. Strike 3
Alain decided to be a Good Samaritan and wrote out directions for all future ex-pats that would have to go through this trauma alone, and after a quick feeding for Logan, some play time for the kids, and another bathroom run we were ready to get out of there.
Now, this is where Mr. Murphy and his darn Laws come in. As we are leaving, I look over to this hall to the right of us and there is the Reception Area. It has no major markings and the only reason it even appeared was due to the fact that someone had opened the doors leading to it. Knowing that each and every thing we have done since our arrival has had some hidden steps, we go in and try to make contact with the 3 women behind the glass.
Once again the Czech-English barrier comes into play but they take my paperwork and decide to help us out. There is much confusion to work through since they apparently did not understand the whole "Trial Run" thing and just thought that we were complete idiots who had showed up a week early for appointments! Eventually we get them to move on and find out that there are forms that we need filled out in advance...oh and there will be a charge of 1000 cz per child for the exams. Armed with forms, clear plastic protector folders, and our new knowledge we decide to push our luck and ask where we would need to go to make the adults appointments.
We are told to return the way we came, go back to the 5th floor, and now find the White Tape Line and follow that to the Best Health Offices, for Non-EU Citizens. Suffice it to say, once again things seem easier than they really are but we eventually find the office, Alain graciously takes on waiting with the kids, and I head in to get the information.
Adults, as we come to find out, need to come in between 7:30-9:30am after a fasting period and have a slew of blood work done. They will then be given an appointment time with a hospital physician (current time frame 2 weeks out) who will go over the results of the lab work, provide an exam, and send us on our merry way with a Pass (or Fail) to the V.Z.P. offices to finish the sign up process. Since it now well after noon, this will not be occurring today. However, they tell me to come in when I am there with the kids next week so we will see how that goes.
If you are not all collapsed on the ground, praising how things work in the States by now just wait until you read Part II.
Now, it would be completely heartless to send us out into the big city of Prague with no connections in the works...enter a company called V.Z.P. There is a story there about our first interactions with this company but that is a tale for another day. Suffice it to say, after getting the information from their office I decided to have Monster help me out with the initial set up. Tuesday I had an appointment with Emilio Bayona, HR Coordinator at Monster. He helped me get through the forms (they were all in Czech) and offered to call the hospital I would need to take myself and the children to for our pre-screening appointments. There were 2 facilities to choose from, but Emilio weeded out the not-so-good option and told me I should go to Na Homolce Hospital out in Praha 5. Sounded good and they even have a web page in English! http://www.homolka.cz/en/
Unfortunately, that is right about where the shared language ends. So, as I leave my meeting with Emilio I ask him to please have the appointments made for Thursday the 30th...and not too early since we are slow going in the am... as Alex starts school on September 3rd and I really did not want her to miss any days. I also asked if he could make appointments for our new friends the Lavelanet-Knights, since they also need to get their kids on board with this V.Z.P. coverage and they are starting school the same day as Alex.
The next day I receive an email with our scheduled appointments and times...Hodson Family, September 4th at 8:15am...Lavelanet-Knight Family, September 7th at 9:30am. First Strike but we have learned that you take what you can get over here.
I then decide the best thing to do is a trial run since I have no idea where this hospital is and it looked like I would be getting up at the crack of dawn to manage getting us there for this God-awful appointment time. Funny, I never would have had a problem with this early am stuff in the US but then again I had the comfort of a remote-start vehicle with (2) DVD panels for the kids, a 10-minute commute from home to Doctor's Office, and the prospect of (3) Dunkin Donuts Drive-Thru's for an extra large wake-up coffee.
So I ask Alain if he would be interested in making the trial run with me since he will have to make the jaunt himself and if we knew where everything was, it would make our solo runs with the kids that much easier. We meet the next day - which was a trial all of itself as the Tram Line I decided to use to meet him in Andel had gone back to its original route but the old signs were still up at our stop. Needless to say, the Hodson Clan was late as usual.
We get to Andel and Alain informs me that we need to hop on a tram to go ONE stop to the Bus Station, where we are to pick up Bus 167 to bring us out to the unknown reaches of Praha 5. We finally get on a tram and go to the one stop. This sounds easy I am sure, but add in the fact that there are 2 adults and 4 children - 2 of which are in strollers which need to be carried up the stairs of the tram by the adults thus allowing the other 2 to wreak havoc and try to find seats...all for one stop...and I think you will start to catch on that this is no easy feat at all.
Now we are at the Bus Station. After a bit of looking around, we find the sign for our bus and go park ourselves on a bench to wait. Mind you, the bus was already there in the parking lot but keeping to a strict time frame is very big here in Prague and they will not pull up and begin to load passengers until the exact minute it says they will be there on the schedule.
Off we are on the bus trip to Nemocnice Na Homolce - the end of the line for this particular bus. As we are riding we see a sign for the hospital and a stop name that is so close that we begin to question our directions. A nice young woman gestures for our paperwork and tells us that we need to get off the bus. Perhaps for the locals this would have been correct but for us, no. So we wait for the next bus and stick to the plan of going to the end of the line...lo and behold, it drops us off right at the doors of the hospital. Amazing what directions can do when they are correct!
However, here comes Strike 2. We enter the hospital and have no idea where we need to go since our information only got us to the building...not through it. I see a sign for Information and there is a couple being assisted so I figure we are in great shape. I turn to tell Alain my plans on inquiring at the desk, turn back, and the info lady has disappeared into thin air. Either we have some coding on our foreheads that reads "Run...American Coming" which was highlighted by the hospital fluorescents or it was lunchtime. Just as we are about to give up, the Security Guard in the next enclosure starts the typical Czech to English Charade Game and points down a hallway. Go this way we ask? Ano...ano. Great - we are now heading in the correct direction for all of 250 feet until you need to know left or right. Once again feeling all hope is lost, we are ready to throw in the towel...or at least find someone else to ask...when my eyes spy one of the 25 words I know in Czech - Detske (Children). This is a major find! We notice that it is on a green board and it says Patro (Floor) 1. We go in the direction of the arrow and find yet another Information Center. I decide to ask again here while Alain handles potty breaks with the kids. I am rewarded with broken English and directions to follow the green tape line on the floor to the green elevator and get off at the 1st floor where I will follow signs ( in Czech) to the children's reception area. This is almost starting to be fun!
We follow the tape, find the elevator, go to the first floor, and find that there is no sign for this supposed Reception Area but there are plenty with Detske on it so we start the hunt. After the first right, we fell for a trick sign that told us to go right again. There was one small table with one small toy on it so it looked like it could be correct, however it ended up being a 2 office hall that ended in an apparent smoker's haven so we turned right around.
Deciding to continue down our initial path, we returned to the main hall and kept moving down it. Bathrooms - good to know, more offices - most locked but some with keys hanging off them, and then...there is was...the Children Play Area. This just had to be it! We let the kids runs lose and play and started checking the doors for any signs of reception, a matching doctor's name, or even life. There were 3 teenagers hanging out in the waiting area...a popular thing to do I guess since they never went into any office in the time I was there..., a sign that matched the doctor's name on our paperwork, and tons of things to keep the kids happy. However, the one thing that was still eluding us was this fabled reception area. Strike 3
Alain decided to be a Good Samaritan and wrote out directions for all future ex-pats that would have to go through this trauma alone, and after a quick feeding for Logan, some play time for the kids, and another bathroom run we were ready to get out of there.
Now, this is where Mr. Murphy and his darn Laws come in. As we are leaving, I look over to this hall to the right of us and there is the Reception Area. It has no major markings and the only reason it even appeared was due to the fact that someone had opened the doors leading to it. Knowing that each and every thing we have done since our arrival has had some hidden steps, we go in and try to make contact with the 3 women behind the glass.
Once again the Czech-English barrier comes into play but they take my paperwork and decide to help us out. There is much confusion to work through since they apparently did not understand the whole "Trial Run" thing and just thought that we were complete idiots who had showed up a week early for appointments! Eventually we get them to move on and find out that there are forms that we need filled out in advance...oh and there will be a charge of 1000 cz per child for the exams. Armed with forms, clear plastic protector folders, and our new knowledge we decide to push our luck and ask where we would need to go to make the adults appointments.
We are told to return the way we came, go back to the 5th floor, and now find the White Tape Line and follow that to the Best Health Offices, for Non-EU Citizens. Suffice it to say, once again things seem easier than they really are but we eventually find the office, Alain graciously takes on waiting with the kids, and I head in to get the information.
Adults, as we come to find out, need to come in between 7:30-9:30am after a fasting period and have a slew of blood work done. They will then be given an appointment time with a hospital physician (current time frame 2 weeks out) who will go over the results of the lab work, provide an exam, and send us on our merry way with a Pass (or Fail) to the V.Z.P. offices to finish the sign up process. Since it now well after noon, this will not be occurring today. However, they tell me to come in when I am there with the kids next week so we will see how that goes.
If you are not all collapsed on the ground, praising how things work in the States by now just wait until you read Part II.
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