Free Medical Care Abroad

Apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and receive free or reduced cost medical treatment. The card is valid for five years and can be used in all European Area Countries and Switzerland. Although it cannot be used for planned treatments abroad, renal dialysis, maternity care, and the management of the symptoms of pre-existing or chronic conditions that flare up while abroad are all covered.

The issue of payment is mixed as each country has different levels of free health provision for their citizens. Cardholders can expect to follow the usual payment requirements of the country that are visiting. In some countries individuals are expected to part pay for their treatment, for example, in Slovakia part-payment of treatment is standard. In the UK all European member state citizens need to present an EHIC in order to receive free NHS treatment but individuals still have to pay for prescriptions in the usual fashion. In cases where individuals have to pay for treatment, for example, if they are treated in a private hospital, they may be reimbursed a percentage of the costs. However the rate of reimbursement varies from country to country. Travelers are advised to carefully research the regulations for their destination. Spain, for example, will not reimburse any private medical treatment so people need to make sure they are being treated by state run medical practitioners.

Whilst insurance companies are keen to alert us to the fact that EHIC cover is only very basic and that additionall, full private medical insurance is essential for travelers, some companies, for example, Churchill, insist on policy holders having an EHIC card and as a benefit waive card holder’s excess.