UHI registration
This week I answers questions about health insurance and Internet troubles.
Dear Orhan,
I write with regard to your article in the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 14 in connection with joining the Universal Health Insurance, or UHI, program. Our circumstances are as follows:
· Married - I am 65 years old and my wife is 62
· We both receive U.K. government pensions
· We have lived in Turkey for the last 13 years
· We both have dual British-Turkish citizenship
· We currently have local Turkish private health care insurance that we have held for a number of years.
My question is this – Do we have to take out UHI in addition to the private health insurance we hold? If we do not use state hospitals are we still required to take out UHI? I have been searching on the Internet for any site that can clarify the situation but have been unable to find any such site. If you know of one, please advise. Any clarification will be most appreciated and I trust it is in order for me to write to you on this matter. Many thanks for your attention. Kind Regards, Peter.
Dear Peter,
The Turkey-U.K. social security treaty does not cover health insurance. Hence, you cannot use U.K. health insurance in Turkey. So, you must apply for Turkish UHI after Oct.1, 2010. Law no. 5510 says for foreigners:
· If you are foreigner,
· If you are not insured in your country (or if your country’s health insurance is not valid in Turkey),
· If you have a residence permit,
· And if you have completed one year in Turkey,
Then you should be registered as UHI insured. Even if you do not use public hospitals, you have to apply for UHI. The lowest premium amount is 182 Turkish Liras. This premium is for both husband and wife.
ADSL patients
Dear Orhan,
I wonder if any of your readers, like me, are a bit bewildered by the performance of their ADSL. Currently I am paying 82 liras for a 4 MB/ unlimited download package. I noticed that my laptop was running rather slow and when I checked it, using the speed test site that TTNET uses, I discovered that across a range of 20 tests over three days, only once did I get above 3 MB, the majority are around 2 MB and some even below that.
When I went to the Türk Telekom office in Fethiye, the guy looked at the results I had printed out and said that it was probably because lots of people were logged into the system, and basically I could expect no better? I understand that I would not be at 4Mb all day, and that due to traffic I would fluctuate, but I would not expect to drop below 3 MB.
Is there any mechanism, for claiming against TTNET?”
Dear Sir,
Your question is about a technical issue. So, I cannot respond to you exactly. However, you can send a complaint letter to Türk Telekom’s General Directorate and the Ministry of Transport. The ministry is the most authoritative institution in Turkey about communication, Internet and information technology. The ministry’s related units should respond to your complaint.
Hurriyet Daily News/10.09.2010
Dear Orhan,
I write with regard to your article in the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 14 in connection with joining the Universal Health Insurance, or UHI, program. Our circumstances are as follows:
· Married - I am 65 years old and my wife is 62
· We both receive U.K. government pensions
· We have lived in Turkey for the last 13 years
· We both have dual British-Turkish citizenship
· We currently have local Turkish private health care insurance that we have held for a number of years.
My question is this – Do we have to take out UHI in addition to the private health insurance we hold? If we do not use state hospitals are we still required to take out UHI? I have been searching on the Internet for any site that can clarify the situation but have been unable to find any such site. If you know of one, please advise. Any clarification will be most appreciated and I trust it is in order for me to write to you on this matter. Many thanks for your attention. Kind Regards, Peter.
Dear Peter,
The Turkey-U.K. social security treaty does not cover health insurance. Hence, you cannot use U.K. health insurance in Turkey. So, you must apply for Turkish UHI after Oct.1, 2010. Law no. 5510 says for foreigners:
· If you are foreigner,
· If you are not insured in your country (or if your country’s health insurance is not valid in Turkey),
· If you have a residence permit,
· And if you have completed one year in Turkey,
Then you should be registered as UHI insured. Even if you do not use public hospitals, you have to apply for UHI. The lowest premium amount is 182 Turkish Liras. This premium is for both husband and wife.
ADSL patients
Dear Orhan,
I wonder if any of your readers, like me, are a bit bewildered by the performance of their ADSL. Currently I am paying 82 liras for a 4 MB/ unlimited download package. I noticed that my laptop was running rather slow and when I checked it, using the speed test site that TTNET uses, I discovered that across a range of 20 tests over three days, only once did I get above 3 MB, the majority are around 2 MB and some even below that.
When I went to the Türk Telekom office in Fethiye, the guy looked at the results I had printed out and said that it was probably because lots of people were logged into the system, and basically I could expect no better? I understand that I would not be at 4Mb all day, and that due to traffic I would fluctuate, but I would not expect to drop below 3 MB.
Is there any mechanism, for claiming against TTNET?”
Dear Sir,
Your question is about a technical issue. So, I cannot respond to you exactly. However, you can send a complaint letter to Türk Telekom’s General Directorate and the Ministry of Transport. The ministry is the most authoritative institution in Turkey about communication, Internet and information technology. The ministry’s related units should respond to your complaint.
Hurriyet Daily News/10.09.2010
