Retirees — private health insurance vs relying on the local public system, what did you choose?

This really depends on your residency status and whether any reciprocal healthcare agreements apply between your home country and destination — that changes what you're actually entitled to under the public system, sometimes substantially. The Health & Insurance section of your destination's guide should clarify what applies specifically to retirees/pensioners, since eligibility rules there often differ from working-age residents.

Generally, private supplementary cover is worth strongly considering if you have any pre-existing conditions or want faster access to specialists, even where the public system is genuinely good.

We kept a supplemental private policy specifically for shorter specialist wait times — the public system itself has been solid for everything else.

Following, deciding this exact thing right now.

Went public-only after checking the guide’s specifics, per Jimmy’s point above. Fine so far, though I’m only a few months in.

Does private cover actually help with dental or vision gaps too, or is it mostly about faster specialist access?

OP here — still undecided, but leaning toward a light supplemental plan based on this thread rather than either extreme.

No answer from me, just following, retiring here myself in a few years.

Mild disagreement with the general “get private” advice — in my case it turned out to be the wrong call, and I cancelled after a year as pure unused cost. Worth reassessing after year one rather than assuming it’s permanent.

Interesting to see the split of opinions here, thanks all.