crashvt2003

I am traveling to Prague next month and have already purchased travel insurance which includes $25,000 of medical coverage. My fiancé is trying to tell me that she heard that you need at least $35,000 in coverage to enter the country. Does anybody know if that is true? Do they really check this when you arrive from the US (via AMS)? If they do check, do you think I'd be ok with only having $25,000 in coverage or do I need to call and get additional coverage?

Thanks in advance for the help!

ERJ_12B

In almost 18 years off traveling to Europe I have never been checked for health insurance. If I were you I wouldn't worry about it. Besides they would check for that in Amsterdam since that is your first entry point in to the Schenegen area.

UAPremExecflyer

Your fiancé is either misinformed or misunderstanding. As ERJ_12B notes, there is no check for health insurance on entry to EU.

stut

Some countries further east do insist on health insurance (Belarus is one), but not the Czech Republic.

Of course, it would be irresponsible to travel without any health cover to a country which does not have a reciprocal agreement with your own, but it sounds like you're pretty much covered in this aspect.

nrr

US Medicare (and many other private carriers) does not cover you outside of the US--I would guess few of them purchase "additional" coverage when they travel in Western Europe (the most popular travel area for most Americans.)

MichalFKowalik

+1 - never heard

Amount your better half mentioned sounds to me like a regulation for entering Russia NOT Czech Republic

mfk

NPF

There is a requirement to have health insurance in the minimum amount of 30,000 Euros (not Dollars) to enter the EU. Most points-of-entry don't check it, others do, frequently based on your passport and/or origin.

Maggoo

According to the website of the Austrian ministry for the interior the regulation for the entry in EU-countries is as follows:
In order to apply for a Schengen visa you indeed need medical insurance with a coverage of 30.000€. BUT these regulations only apply to holders of certain passports.
According to your profile, your location is Virginia. I assume you hold a US-Passport. This qualifies you for visa-free travel (like the visa waiver program for EU-citizens visiting the US).

Source in German:
https://www.help.gv.at/Portal.Node/h...te.120901.html
Cititzens who require visa: http://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_Fremden..._29_4_2014.pdf (Gewöhnlicher Reisepass = common passport, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika = USA)

crashvt2003

It sounds like I should be ok with what I have.

Since I'll be going IAD-AMS-PRG, does anybody know what I would actually be going through when I get to Prague? Is it full-blown Customs, a passport check, or do I go through everything in AMS and not do anything when I get to Prague? It's been 15 years since I've flown to Europe and I have no idea what the whole process is like now.

Thanks for all of the help!

UAPremExecflyer

Both the Netherlands and Czech Republic are Schengen countries.
That means you will go through passport control on entry at AMS and then pass through customs in PRG ... this will likely be an unhindered walk through the "Green" or "Nothing to Declare" channel, unless you happen to catch the attention of a customs agent who thinks you might be doing something nefarious.

Giggleswick

The Polish Embassy in the U.S. says the following:embassy website

I don't know whether they ever actually check for proof of insurance in practice unless you're applying for a visa, but I doubt it, and I know I wasn't asked for it. I had heard anecdotally a few years back of some visa waiver nationals whose first Schengen entry was into Poland being checked, but have no idea if this was true. Still, the requirement does exist.

Edited to add: Although the requirement does appear on the "Visas" page of the website, it's under "General Information," not only under the list of things required when applying for a visa. And the next item below it says " In accordance with the provisions of law, the Polish border guard has the sole authority to admit an alien into the territory of the Republic of Poland at the port of entry. This rule pertains to both aliens traveling on passports only, when no visa is required on the basis of bilateral agreements, and those to whom a visa had been issued at the Polish Consulate." So it does look like the rule applies to everyone, not just those who need a visa. But of course that is a different question than whether it's enforced.

telabadmanwot

I don't mean to be funny, but where did you find such poor health insurance?

30k is the minimum. The very very minimum. If anything serious happens to you, you will not have adequate insurance.

I'm sure you will be fine, but in case anybody in the future is reading this, try to get insurance of AT LEAST 30k!!! (Wouldn't cover much past a few broken limbs, a consultant and a bed in a public hospital, people in Europe don't realise the actual expense of government subsidized health care which non Europeans are not entitled to)

Whenever I buy travel insurance it covers for well over 10x that amount. If you get in to trouble in a foreign country the last thing I you want is a $250,000 medical bill) if you get airlifted or are in intensive care, these are EXPENSIVE.

ToGo

the best think is an travel insurance it cost just some € or $ and save thousand of €!
so when i go skiing in austria and i break my leg and the helicopter take me in the next (private!) Hospital i have to pay it for my own so when i travel across the border and the same happens the insurance pay all. And i get an better service. Or there is an search and rescue mission it make you poor...

LondonElite

She is perpetuating an urban myth.

seawolf

Article 15 of EC 810/2009.

This requirement seems to apply only if you need a short-stay visa. Other visas might have similar requirements. But it looks like visa-waived countries do not have a medical insurance requirement.