Insurance and Reimbursement

SGK is Turkey's social security health scheme. It covers people insured within the Turkish system. If you are travelling here for planned treatment, it does not apply to you, and no clinic can enrol you in it.

Treatment for international patients is therefore self-funded at the point of care, with any reimbursement handled afterwards by your own insurer or national scheme.

Most travel insurance policies cover unexpected illness or injury while abroad. Planned treatment — the reason you are travelling — is usually excluded. This surprises people at the worst possible moment, and it is worth checking before you book anything.

If you hold private medical insurance, check whether treatment outside your home country is covered at all, and whether prior authorisation is required. Many policies will not reimburse a procedure that was not authorised in advance, however valid the clinical indication.

Some national schemes allow reimbursement for planned treatment in another country, usually subject to prior approval and often capped at what the same treatment would have cost at home.

The decisive point is almost always timing: approval must normally be obtained before treatment. Applying afterwards is generally unsuccessful.

Ask your scheme what documentation it needs, and get the answer in writing. This typically includes a diagnosis, the proposed procedure, and an itemised cost estimate.

An itemised written estimate naming the planned procedure — not a single figure.

Confirmation of what is included and what is not, particularly what happens in the event of a complication.

After treatment: the operation note, the pathology report where applicable, and the discharge summary. Most insurers will not process a claim without these.

Tell us in advance if your insurer requires documents in a specific format or language, so that they are prepared correctly rather than reissued later.

Is planned treatment outside my home country covered under my policy?

Is prior authorisation required, and how long does it take?

Will reimbursement be capped, and on what basis?

Which costs are excluded — accommodation, travel, companion costs, follow-up?

What happens if a complication requires further treatment abroad?

Obtain the answers in writing. A verbal assurance is not something a claims department is bound by.

The above is general information. Policy terms and national rules vary and change, and only your insurer or scheme can tell you what applies to you.

This page is not medical advice. Which procedure is clinically appropriate is determined after assessment.