We had a meeting today at school about our health insurance.  The good news is that we have an excellent world wide plan.  I of course am hoping that I will only have to use it for routine things rather than for anything major.  The representative who was leading the meeting went into much, much more detail about things like medical evacuation than I ever imagined I'd need to know.

She said that for Sofia probably the closest major western hospitals to be evacuated to would be either Vienna, Thessaloniki or Athens. Um. Okay.  I am not about to say that these aren't good hospitals but she wouldn't stop going on about how good the facilities are, what high quality they are and how fast they could get us there.

It was also explained to us how we can get coverage in the States and how we can seek and pay for health care abroad. Of course, the key is having itemized receipts or bills. Itemized, itemized, itemized.  Nothing new here.  Oh and they'll accept them in any language. And the best part, you don't have to provide a translation.  Phew.

Then we heard a few stories about people who've forgotten their insurance cards at home only to need them.  Moral: take your card every where with you. (No really!?)  Followed by a couple of stories about seeking reimbursement for medical expenses.  Lesson: sign your name on your form.  She chased these tales with a pair of medical evacuation stories--one based in Krakow, Poland and the other on the Croatian coast.  The take away? It seems to be something like: no matter what country (or situation) you get yourself into if you need first rate medical care you'll get it--even if it means evacuation. <!--more-->

Well the whole thing seemed kind of absurd to me but I listened attentively. I mean, I don't want to not pay enough attention and have something happen to me.  Or just not be able to fill out all of the forms for reimbursement.

After the meeting, I ran into another colleague who was also there. We talked about how sort of fear-mongering the representative had been.  We laughed about having to be air-lifted somewhere and that's when I made the bold claim: i'd be happy to have a bone set in Sofia or even my appendix removed.  (I mean Madeline survived her appendectomy in Paris and has a children's book to show for it? Why not me in Sofia?)  My colleague looked at me with big eyes and said: I don't know about an appendectomy.

That's when it struck me.  Was that a crazy claim? So I've been thinking about and reconsidering my claim all evening.  Here's what I've come up with. I think appendicitis is a fairly common condition, the surgery is pretty straightforward, doctors in Bulgaria are well trained and the hospital food can't be any worse than in the States.  Given these factors, think I would be comfortable have my appendix removed in Sofia.  I also hear that it's a very, very painful condition and I have a hunch that if I ever had appendicitis I would want it out of me as fast and as quickly as possible.

I guess the one thing that I can't control would be the quality and cleanliness of the hospital. But it's not as if there aren't standards here in Bulgaria.  I think the scariest thing would be not speaking the language and not knowing what's going on around me. However, if you've been reading my blog long enough you'd know that this isn't a new feeling for me--I regularly don't know what people are saying to me.  I guess what this all comes down to is that I'd rather not have an appendectomy in Bulgaria (heck, I don't one period) but I'd rather have it here with my current network of friends and colleagues than while on holiday somewhere I don't know anyone.

In conclusion I would like to say two things. First, I remain thankful for my good(ish) health and the fact that I am luckily enough to have access to high quality medical care.  Second, I want my MoM to know that I am not planning on testing out my insurance any time soon.