Are psychologists, dentists and glasses/contact lenses covered by your Public Healthcare?

20 comments

1. Psychologists, and things like CBT are covered by the NHS. Dentists and the opticians are semi-privatised, meaning that for certain treatments and services, you have to pay. I wear glasses and contact lenses, I get a free eye test every so often and I get an NHS discount on my glasses but I pay full price for my contacts given that they’re not really ‘essential’.

2. Dentist is partly covered, psychologist can be covered(dunno if fully), but you need to visit general practitioner first, glasses/lenses are paid. You have to pay quite a sum for both dentist and glasses. Some dentists take even 100 € per one tooth(considering our wages, that’s crazy expensive). Glasses are generally expensive(some special glasses can cost even 400 €), but they last for years.

   Psychologist is not something people would talk about openly. Coz most people here would laugh at you or call you crazy.

3. Psychologists yes. Dentists yes, but a few things you have to (partially) pay yourself. Glasses not really. If your eyes are bad enough (more than 6 diopters I believe) the health insurance companies will pay for a portion of the lenses, but not for the frame.

4. Psychologists are covered if you have a referral.

   Dental is a separate subsidy from public healthcare. It’s free if you are 23 or below and from the year you turn 24 you get a yearly national dental care subsidy about the cost of a yearly check up, and there is max ceiling for dental work.

   Glasses and contacts as subsidized for those 19 or below.

5. Psychologist. Yes. But they are oversaturated, so the attention is not very good

   Dentists. Yes, for kids until 14 yo, iirc. For adults for very very basic things so it’s not worth

   Glasses/contact lenses, no

6. Dentists – only preventive check-ups and probably some utter basics and some insurance companies offer more (my dental hygienist told me one insurance company covers even her services). Also it may change time to time and detail to detail. I had cavity once as a child and the filling was free but if I wanted better filling I’d pay. No idea about now. Glasses – insurance co-paid my first glasses but nothing after.

7. Mostly.

   Psychologists are covered, but there simply aren’t enough so the wait list is long. Many people go to private specialists and get a percentage reimbursed from the healthcare system.

   Basic and necessary dentist treatments are covered. If you want anything special (pretty white tooth fillings instead of the cheap gray material for example) you pay extra.

   For glasses it’s difficult. Contact lenses are pretty much never covered. Glasses are completely covered for children, for adults it depends on how bad the sight is. But in all cases they only pay a part of the price.

8. Psychologists – yes, if you have a referral. But waiting lists are long so it’s still not uncommon to go private for people who have the means

   Dentists – only for kids <18

   Glasses – no.

   You can get additional insurance cover for dentistry and glasses. But especially for glasses it’s not worth getting it just for glasses coverage because you’ll pay a lot more in insurance than you get back. I pay somewhere between 15 and 20 euros a month for example for additional insurance that includes coverage for glasses and I get €40 every two years. Which covered like not even 15% of my last pair of glasses and 25% of my last pair of prescription sunglasses. Although it’s absolutely possible these days to get a pair of glasses for around €40 of course but I prefer to pay a bit more for quality.

9. Regular therapy you choose to go isn’t covered, if you’re diagnosed with a disorder it will become free during treatment. Dentist work is usually covered if it’s not cosmetic and you need it for your dental health though queues are super long due to recent administration changes pushing for privatization, so people are choosing the private route for the convenience. Lenses, no. Glasses, some cases (retired people, former/current government workers) but mostly no.

10. Dentists, partially and with the caveat that you need to visit every year or your personal share will be higher (pretty much double). For instance: root canal is 12.50 euro per tooth normally, but 25 euro if you didn’t go to the dentist the year before.

    Psychologists, I think there’s been a change recently. It didn’t used to be covered and it costed 60-70 euro per session. Now you can get up to 8 sessions per year for 11 euro per session. That’s still not a lot but better than nothing.

    Glasses, depends on your health insurance. I think it’s covered for minors for the most part but adults are out of luck. I get 40 euro per year if I put in an invoice with my insurer. Can maybe pay for one lens.

11. Psychologists/therapists are covered if you got referred to one by your family doctor.

    Dentists are covered except for “purely” cosmetical changes like teeth whitenings or new teeth (though new teeth are covered for example if a psychological problem like depression can be linked to the absence of teeth, or if you use your teeth for your job e.g. as a model) and professional teeth cleanings (which is around 50€ so still not that bad honestly, I pay for one every year and according to my dentist it helps greatly). Premium fillings and stuff cost extra if they aren’t “needed” (premium fillings of your teeth color for example are deemed needed if they can be seen when you smile).

    Glasses/contact lenses/laser eye surgery are only covered if they are deemed necessary:

    -> glasses and contact lenses are covered if you are below 18, if you’re far-/near-sighted by atleast +/-6.25 diopters or have an astigmatism by atleast 4.25 diopters, or if your eyesight is less than 30% – though for glasses the public insurances will only cover the lenses and not the frame. Most public insurances will, however, also pay for temporary glasses in case you hurt your eyes in someway. Had that happen to me once, and the DAK was happy to oblige.

    -> laser eye surgery is partially covered if you have a cataract or a glaucoma and in very rare cases also if you have an astigmatism, though you have to pay for premium lenses and the laser yourself.

12. Psychologists – yes (the demand is greater than the supply, though)

    Dentists – yes for kids (under 19 I think), but adults can only use a small compensation (of 40€ a year, 85€ if you’re pregnant or have a newborn)

    Glasses/lenses – no. I don’t wear glasses so I don’t know too much, but I think kids and the elderly can get some compensation, and many employers compensate this for working adults, there is a some system for that.

13. – psychological help is usually private, but you can be granted full or subsidized help, if you fit certain criteria. For example, I was bullied a lot, and it was deemed I fit enough criteria to get funded help
    – dentists are free up to 18, subsidized up to 25 (I think), and otherwise private
    – I don’t think you get public funding for glasses, though children might (not 100% sure)

14. Paychologists – yes, but it is a long waiting line

    Dentists: yes, but if you are 18+ you may pay something better/nicer denatal stuff. For kids everything is free (I had a lot of dental work. Wearing 3 different types of braces for 14 years altogether and removing teeth… never paid anything. If you start wearing braces before you turn 18, dentist for braces will be free even when you are 18+)

    Glasses – you get small compensation every few years for new glasses. Lenses are not covered.

15. I think for us only urgent dentistry is covered, psychology i don’t remember hearing about and glasses are an expensive luxury. Not even my premium health care covers those (only partially covers dental care, if you are lucky!)

16. Psychologist: most are private but you get 19% refund for what you pay. The ones that work in the hospital (so totally covered) are only for patients (especially children and teenagers but not only) with very important and urgent conditions.
    Dentists: it’s covered only for health reasons, anything about your teeth that is just for beauty is not covered. What you pay to the private dentist gets refund by 19%.
    Optician: medical checkups are covered, but you buy glasses and lenses in the shop and then get refund of 19%

17. I’m pretty sure you can get a psychologist with a referral. The wait time might be ridiculous though.

    Dentistry is free for people who are going to have surgery in the public health care system. It’s a pre-requisite to have all your teeth fixed before surgery to minimise risk of infection in post-op. These dentist visits are covered.

    Glasses are not covered at all and are VERY expensive.

18. Psychologists? Yes, but you need a referral from your GP. Apparently though thanks to the pandemic you don’t need a referral but… I haven’t heard of anyone going to a psychologist covered by National Healthcare System. If you’re poor and don’t have enough money to afford regular appointments with a psychologist, you go for the one covered by NHS. But usually everyone who has to see a psychologist go to a private psychologist. Why? Because it’s commonly known in Poland that opting for a private doctor for appointment with whom you have to pay is usually way better than opting for a doctor covered by NHS, because the quality of the services offered by them is more often than not average at most.

    Dentists? Yes, and you don’t need a referral, but not everything is covered by the NHS. It depends if you’re a child (and how old you are as a child) or an adult, if you’re a pregnant woman or how often you need to go to the dentist. However, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t go to a private dentist. It’s not a good idea to go to a dentist covered by NHS.

    Glasses? Sometimes you can have a prescription for glasses and they’re subsidized, but again, usually people have their glasses done outside of the NHS, because the quality is far better there.

    All in all, Polish National Healthcare System is one of the very worst in whole Europe. Sure, you can go to your GP and get a referral to a specialist doctor, but get ready to wait a very long time for your turn. In some cases it’s so bad that you have to wait a couple of years, because all earlier terms are already taken (e.g. if you want to see an endocrinologist). We even have a meme where a patient is complaining that they don’t know if they’ll live to see the doctor so late so they’re written down in the calendar with a pencil so that it can be erased just in case, lol.

19. Dentists – yes, but not in the case of cosmetic procedures.

    Psychologists – no, only psychiatrists in case of serious mental problems.

    Glasses / Contact lenses – no, only the services of an occulist, including the selection of the right ones.

20. Psychologist I don’t know but each department ( county) has a public CMP center where anyone can see a psychologist for free if need so.

    Dentists, some acts are covered partially.

    Glasses not at all unfortunately.