Healthcare Abroad and Your European Health Insurance Card

From the 1st of January 2006, the E111 form went out of service and was replaced by the EHIC – or European Health Insurance Card.  This card covers certain people for certain healthcare benefits in certain countries, but is by no means a replacement for health insurance!

In this article we’ll look at healthcare abroad for travellers and expatriates, as well as your European Health Insurance Card and who’s eligible for it and what it covers.

A recent story in the British and Irish press highlighted the fact that many people don’t actually know the extent to which the card will cover health costs, and so we felt it was imperative to clear up any misunderstandings.

The story in question relates to a British holidaymaker who travelled across the water to Ireland and who unfortunately had a serious accident and needed extensive treatment in an Irish hospital.  The man in question also needs to be repatriated back to the UK so that his medical treatment can continue, but he faces a bill of thousands of euro in order to be medically evacuated back to his home nation.  This is because the EHIC does not cover repatriation.

According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the European Health Insurance Card is available for those aged 16 years or older who are normally resident in the UK and who are travelling abroad temporarily to countries within the European Economic Area as well as Switzerland.  The card is not health insurance, and it alone does not cover those who are expatriating to live abroad permanently.

If you’re travelling as a family group, each adult member of the family will need a card; those resident in the Channel Islands or on the Isle of Man are not eligible for a card, and the level of cover the EHIC provides differs on a country by country basis.  One needs to be aware that there is no guarantee the card will cover all medical treatment and hospital stays, or that it will cover any private treatment, and that it does not cover repatriation to the UK.

If you have a card and are relying on it abroad, you need to have it with you at all times and you can expect to be treated on the same terms as insured nationals of the country you’re in.  But as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office guidelines state quite clearly: “you still need sufficient travel insurance to cover healthcare costs.”  This is because few EU countries pay the full cost of medical treatment, even under the European Union’s healthcare arrangements - and if you move abroad permanently you have to make alternative arrangements to cover any health care fees and charges.

If you’re working abroad this may mean that you pay into a state scheme and therefore become entitled to medical care as a result, or it may mean you take out a local or international medical insurance policy for you and your family.  If you’re retiring abroad you need to be aware that the vast majority of insurers will only take on people aged below 60 or sometimes 65 – so look very carefully at your medical insurance options before you go, and don’t leave anything to chance, have sufficient insurance in place before you travel.