Need help with hospital fees for delivery.

prideaspunch

Hi Guys,

Just some background....My wife is from Guinea in west Africa, I am Irish, we have one son who is also Irish and another on the way.

My wife and son just recently moved from Guinea to Ireland, I am over and back to Canada for the past year on a work visa working for a Canadian company.

We will be having our second child in The Coombe in January and are in and out regularly for various appointments.....all free of charge.

Because I am paying my income taxes in Canada we have been told that we will have to pay €1200 per night when my wife comes in to have the baby.

A one off payment of €1200 wouldn't be the end of the world, but if there was some complications and she had to stay for a longer period we could be in serious financial trouble.

I have paid taxes all my life in Ireland and have only been working away just over a year now. Is there anything we can do to avoid this?

Thanks for your help.:)

Moonbeam

It sounds correct to me but talk to citizens advice. You are not resident in the EU but are an EU citizen.

Sara2002

This doesn't help if you run into complications but if your wife was happy availing of the early discharge home scheme (12 hours after birth) coud you avoid the payment for the overnight stay?
This seems very unfair for somebody who's Irish and whos paid taxes here previously. I hope you work something out. Good luck to your wife

prideaspunch

Hi Guys,

My wife is due any day now, she has also just received her GNIB residence card for Ireland.
Does anyone here know if this would mean that she would be covered to have the baby here without us paying? even though I am still paying my income taxes in Canada .... as in the above situation.

Thanks.

Supercell

My wife is Chinese and had a GNIB stamp 4 visa when we had our first. Nobody ever mentioned paying anything to us? She stayed four nights in Holles street.

huey1975

<snip>

January

huey1975 wrote: »

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Post anything like that again and i will ban you.

Moonbeam

prideaspunch wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My wife is due any day now, she has also just received her GNIB residence card for Ireland.
Does anyone here know if this would mean that she would be covered to have the baby here without us paying? even though I am still paying my income taxes in Canada .... as in the above situation.

Thanks.

Are you an irish/eu citizen?
Do you work in Ireland but for a canadian company?

prideaspunch

Yea I'm an Irish citizen,
I work in Canada, and my wife is here.

Supercell

Looking at the Coombe website i don't think you should have to pay :-

http://www.coombe.ie/index.php?nodeId=85

Information for Non Residents & Non Nationals
To qualify for free medical health care, you must produce proof of one of the following on your first antenatal appointment:

-IF FROM ANY OTHER COUNTRY
You must produce your current Garda National Immigration Bureau Card. Please bring your GNIB card with you to the hospital so that we can obtain the Number and Expiry Date or you must produce a valid Medical Card or valid Student Card, with a letter from your college.Please bring your Medical Card or Student Card to the hospital so that we can obtain the Number and Expiry Date.
If you do not have any of these documents, you will be required to pay a deposit of €1650.00 to cover your maternity care on your first ante natal visit to the hospital.
Please be aware that failure to produce any of these documents will result in charges for your care and all invoices must be paid in full when leaving the hospital.

This is exactly how I recall it being for my wife, there was no questions about me (Irish husband) , I'm pretty sure she needed a PPS number though too - if you haven't sorted that out for your wife do so asap, its free and quick to do, she doesn't need to be working to get a PPS number.

I'm almost certain that as long as she has a GNIB and therefore residency here , that she is fully entitled to free maternity care. Once you get the PPS (if not already) make sure to update your files with the hospital reception ASAP to prevent any nasty surprises in the post.

Fingers crossed for you OP, hope you get a positive outcome.

Moonbeam

oh yes and good luck:)