# EHIC card, the end???



## FranknJan (Dec 18, 2007)

Is it the end of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or E111 now we will be leaving the European Community?
I suppose we will still have cover with our normal travel insurance, or will that have to change.
Just a thought.
Frank


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

EHIC should be in place till we leave and nobody knows when that'll be but it's at least two years away.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The EHIC card (formerly the E111) is a note of a reciprocal arrangement for visitors to receive emergency treatment at the same rate as local residents. It was in place when the UK was part of the EEA and is also applicable and can be used in;

Where the EHIC Card is valid

NB it is NOT valid in the following;

European countries that do not accept the EHIC

The Channel Islands, including Guernsey, Alderney and Sark
The Isle of Man
Monaco
San Marino
The Vatican

so more travel insurance is needed for these areas.....

NB It is for emergency treatment ONLY and can only be used in state run medical units, some private ambulances have been reported as taking people direct to private hospitals where the locals would not receive state treatment and the EHIC card is invalid. Your travel insurance company may refuse to pay if you go that route as they often require you to go via the state system.

It does NOT cover repatriation costs and other costs may also not be covered. Check your travel insurance covers pre-existing conditions and that you have fully declared ANYTHING as insurance companies will find loopholes if they can - e.g. that ingrowing toenail that has left a residual infection which then flares up, even though the original incident was five years earlier...... or that mild chest pain that got checked 10 years ago and you were told "was nothing to worry about"

Dave


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Your thread title is very misleading. Could you add a question mark.


Or, maybe, you're just scaremongering and meant to stir members up again.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

He can't as it is more than 1 hour since it was posted AFAIK.

I got stopped from changing something on the 60th minute - so the clock is VERY precise.....


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I think its a very valid question and one that concerns me to. Insurance companies as we all know will cop out of paying up at every opportunity. Mrs D has known Kidney stone problems and needed emergency treatment in Italy in 2012 and was very ill. Two ambulance trips, two hospitals, several surgeons / doctors and a chief consultant later she was sorted. I dread to think what the bill came to but there was nothing to pay, the EHIC card took care of it all thank goodness. I doubt she will get insured if it goes for any kidney related incident's. I bet there are many on here with conditions that may also not be covered by just travel insurance should the EHIC card go.

However I think its highly likely we will end up staying in the EEA (European Economic Area) as that was never up for debate or part of the Brexit vote. It was to leave the EU not the EEA so hopefully we will retain the EHIC which is an excellent thing for motorhomers but who knows? I think fingers are crossed for a lot of things but there are no guarantees.


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Can anyone tell me if they have ever had a bill sent to them by the French medical services, and if so how long did it take? It’ll be ten weeks tomorrow since I broke my wrist in France and had an operation to mend it and spent the night in hospital. I then had three follow up visits to have dressings changed and have the stitches removed and was 'discharged' on 4th May. Doing very well now. 

It was our understanding that we'd get sent a bill for a proportion of this (20%?) which our insurance would then cover, but we've heard nothing since. I've heard that French bureaucracy takes it's time, are they still writing out the invoices in triplicate and sending someone down to La Poste for the stamps to l'Angleterre, or have they forgotten about us?


Chris


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

FranknJan said:


> Is it the end of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or E111 now we will be leaving the European Community?
> I suppose we will still have cover with our normal travel insurance, or will that have to change.
> Just a thought.
> Frank


Don't see why as reciprocal health agreements between the UK and other European countries existed long before we joined the EEC and after all it works both ways of course


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

Penquin said:


> The EHIC card (formerly the E111) is a note of a reciprocal arrangement for visitors to receive emergency treatment at the same rate as local residents. It was in place when the UK was part of the EEA and is also applicable and can be used in;
> 
> Where the EHIC Card is valid
> 
> ...


NOT required in the IOM as they have a reciprocal agreement with the UK.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

ChrisandJohn said:


> Can anyone tell me if they have ever had a bill sent to them by the French medical services, and if so how long did it take? It'll be ten weeks tomorrow since I broke my wrist in France and had an operation to mend it and spent the night in hospital. I then had three follow up visits to have dressings changed and have the stitches removed and was 'discharged' on 4th May. Doing very well now.
> 
> It was our understanding that we'd get sent a bill for a proportion of this (20%?) which our insurance would then cover, but we've heard nothing since. I've heard that French bureaucracy takes it's time, are they still writing out the invoices in triplicate and sending someone down to La Poste for the stamps to l'Angleterre, or have they forgotten about us?
> 
> Chris


Yes, MrsW had to have a plaster cast redone when it broke apart one week into our holiday, we were at Chinon and went to the local hospital who were superb. We got home and bout 4 months later the bill arrived for about 8€ so we passed it to our insurers and never heard another word....

Last year, one of our grandsons fell off his bunk bed at home (UK) the evening before coming out here, he came out in a temporary cast and had a longer term one fitted locally, she paid the bill immediately on the promise that a receipt would be sent to us so that it could be reclaimed.....

We are still waiting for that receipt so the money has not been reclaimed and when we contacted the hopsital they denied all knowledge of it......

Dave


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Ive never had a bill from France, Italy, Greece or Germany for anything (Yeah I know I must like European hospitals or something  )

I just assume they claimed it back themselves from the UK.

In France and Italy we needed ambulances as well and fully expected to have to pay for them but no.


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Penquin said:


> Yes, MrsW had to have a plaster cast redone when it broke apart one week into our holiday, we were at Chinon and went to the local hospital who were superb. We got home and bout 4 months later the bill arrived for about 8€ so we passed it to our insurers and never heard another word....
> 
> Last year, one of our grandsons fell off his bunk bed at home (UK) the evening before coming out here, he came out in a temporary cast and had a longer term one fitted locally, she paid the bill immediately on the promise that a receipt would be sent to us so that it could be reclaimed.....
> 
> ...


Oh dear, a bit of a mixed experience then. We'll just wait and see what happens, our insurance has already agreed they'll pay.

Incidentally, on the subject of insurance companies finding ways to wriggle out of paying, I have something to relate. When explaining on the phone that I fell on a campsite, on the way to the sanitary block I also happened to mention that that it was my birthday. When the young man summarised my story back to me he said something like 'So OK, you were staying on a campsite, it was your birthday, you'd been having a few drinks and.....' This is where I interrupted and said 'No, I hadn't been drinking, it was about ten in the morning and we were just about to move on elsewhere'.

He said no more about it and, especially after we'd sent some photos they agreed the claim. But that was cheeky, trying to trick me into acknowledging I'd been drinking. If he had asked me outright if I'd been drinking I wouldn't have minded but he tried to put the words in my mouth.

Thanks anyway Dave for the info.

Chris


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

barryd said:


> Ive never had a bill from France, Italy, Greece or Germany for anything (Yeah I know I must like European hospitals or something  )
> 
> I just assume they claimed it back themselves from the UK.
> 
> In France and Italy we needed ambulances as well and fully expected to have to pay for them but no.


I had an ambulance too, which I quite enjoyed aspects of even at the time. John and I have been trying to learn French for a few years. I started out too shy to say anything, then as I got more confident I started speaking up but couldn't understand what people said back to me, and anyway in touristy places people mostly replied in English anyway. In the ambulance, and to some extent later in the hospital, I had a captive audience of people who didn't have much English, so I got lots of opportunities to practise my French. Great boost to my confidence, not so much that I was great at the French, but that I had enough to cope with communicating in a stressful situation.

I was just becoming more and more European.... An then... :serious:

Enough of this...must be more positive... :grin2:

Chris


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

PERHAPS a more telling question should be posted on "CampingCarFacts" the VS not-owned French version of MHF

or "CampingCarFakten" in Germany and so on;

"Have you ever received a bill for any form of treatment in the United Kingdom?"

I have never heard of anyone even being asked for their home address, a temporary address seems acceptable in order to gain treatment free at the point of delivery......

This may of course be reducing the potential income that the NHS gets, but previous posts have said that the reason why hospitals don't bother is that while they pay the cost of trying to collect it from the patient, or his/her insurance company, it does not go to the hospital concerned......

To me, that is something that needs addressing whether we are in or out of the EU, here I get nowhere near the Doctor until my plastic registration card (_Carte vitale_) and _Mutuelle_ card (top up insurance) have been checked for validity......

Small amounts maybe, but "Every Little Helps"...... and if the hospital has provided the treatment should they not get the payments rather than the "NHS central fund".

Dave


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi all

whilst staying in portugal over the winter i found that the locan hospital in portomao was very good for treatment of some older friends

with ct scans and x rays performed very quick

i would say that the hospitals are a bit outdated in looks but the service is there if needed

regarding insurance companys a friend suddenly was taken ill and rushed to the hospital sadly they found they could no do much for him as they found a massive growth of cancer and advised he go home and see his own doctor

this is where the fun started as he had not had any previous with this

the travel insurance allthough helpfull needed a certificate from the hospital faxed to them, then a copy of a letter autherising them to be able to check his medical records

in the end all was sorted but took 2 days

then they agreed for his wife to accompany him on the easyjet plane as a carer
and arranged the local bus to take them to faro and taxi in the uk to there house

the m/home was picked up and transported to the uk by there m/home insurance

travel insurance is mostly for up to 90 days and they were near that time so thay also had to prove travel arrangements did not exeed that

i as many others stay abroad for over 180 days and have not been able to find travel insurance that covers that length of time

barry


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## Pat-H (Oct 30, 2009)

This will all depend on the deal that's struck when the split happens. however I strongly suspect that the requirement to secure as good a trade deal as possible will see a whole lot of smaller "less significant" arrangements abandoned.

So yes I can't see the current arrangement being retained and yes you will need insurance cover in place to travel. But think of it as a tax that goes to the insurance companies. Lets hope we still have some operating in the UK nd they don't up sticks to the EU in which case the profit made from us on that will go there.


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