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EHIC cards

Holiday Ideas & Foreign Travel
yorkshirelad1
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EHIC cards

#370221

Postby yorkshirelad1 » December 27th, 2020, 9:53 pm

It looks like the EHIC card (or its equivalent/successor) will continue.
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44850972
Interestingly, the BBC article "It says that all EHIC cards issued before the end of 2020 will be valid until their expiry date"
It used to be the case that you could renew an EHIC up to 6 months early, and get 5 years validity (I did this in Jan 2020).
If your EHIC card is about to expire (in the next 6 months), you might try and renew. There are reports of people being able to renew and apply afresh (depending on which website you use to access the service). It might take a while for the alleged replacement (GHIC) to get sorted, so it may pay to get another EHIC card (if you need to) if you can.

The usual website (which suggests application/renew is no longer possible) is: http://www.nhs.uk/ehic

The application website that I have used in the past (which talks about both applications and renewals) is:
https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/startApplication.do

Remember, you do not have to pay for an EHIC card (so Googling for EHIC and getting some other website that charges a fee may not be bona fide).

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Re: EHIC cards

#370222

Postby JohnB » December 27th, 2020, 9:57 pm

I saw that BBC report, and went to the EHIC website, but the latter's information was last reviewed on 23rd December, so wasn't keeping up. We shall see what validity we finally get.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370573

Postby terminal7 » December 28th, 2020, 6:53 pm

I have reapplied 2 days ago. Application accepted and acknowledged. Wait in hope.

T7

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Re: EHIC cards

#370583

Postby Mike88 » December 28th, 2020, 7:19 pm

In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370585

Postby swill453 » December 28th, 2020, 7:31 pm

Mike88 wrote:Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.

It's EHIC, not EH1C.

I used mine successfully in Greece a couple of years ago.

Isn't it useless after the end of this year?

EDIT: sorry hadn't read whole thread

Scott.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370590

Postby yorkshirelad1 » December 28th, 2020, 7:55 pm

Mike88 wrote:In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.


Further, some travel insurance policies specifically recommend you obtain an EHIC card: e.g. AXA PPP travel:
AXA PPP travel wrote:If you obtain a European Health Insurance Card before you travel – and use it to reduce the cost of a claim for medical expenses – we will not deduct the normal excess charge from your claim.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370595

Postby Mike88 » December 28th, 2020, 8:18 pm

yorkshirelad1 wrote:
Mike88 wrote:In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.


Further, some travel insurance policies specifically recommend you obtain an EHIC card: e.g. AXA PPP travel:
AXA PPP travel wrote:If you obtain a European Health Insurance Card before you travel – and use it to reduce the cost of a claim for medical expenses – we will not deduct the normal excess charge from your claim.


Most insurance policies require the insured to have a card. In my case I had to battle with the insurance company explaining to them my wife was at the hospital she was taken to by the ambulance and that no nearby State hospital was available. In the end the insurance company met the £5000 bill but that was not thanks to the card.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370620

Postby swill453 » December 28th, 2020, 9:37 pm

It's all very well the UK government saying that EHIC is still valid, but what I'd like to see is something from the EU 27 that says they'll honour it. Otherwise it's worthless.

Scott.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370659

Postby tjh290633 » December 28th, 2020, 11:26 pm

The only time I used mine was in Norway. Funny that.

TJH

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Re: EHIC cards

#370677

Postby Lootman » December 29th, 2020, 12:53 am

tjh290633 wrote:The only time I used mine was in Norway. Funny that.

Ha.

I would never trust it anyway. Don't most people buy travel insurance when they travel?

I spend a sufficient amount of time overseas each year that I take out annual travel insurance, as that is more cost effective than buying insurance for each trip.

I also use a premium credit card for travel-related spending, so that I can enjoy the travel insurance that comes with that. Although that only kicks in after other insurance that you might have, I have discovered.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370678

Postby Dod101 » December 29th, 2020, 1:06 am

Lootman wrote:
tjh290633 wrote:The only time I used mine was in Norway. Funny that.

Ha.

I would never trust it anyway. Don't most people buy travel insurance when they travel?

I spend a sufficient amount of time overseas each year that I take out annual travel insurance, as that is more cost effective than buying insurance for each trip.

I also use a premium credit card for travel-related spending, so that I can enjoy the travel insurance that comes with that. Although that only kicks in after other insurance that you might have, I have discovered.


And Premium customer benefits such as travel insurance ceases once you become a certain age (which varies with the supplier of course) I would not trust the EHIC card but, like Lootman, have my own insurance as a backup. If not, then be prepared to pay for medical insurance costs 'out of the till' as you go.

Dod

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Re: EHIC cards

#370687

Postby AF62 » December 29th, 2020, 6:26 am

Mike88 wrote:In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.


You wouldn’t expect to just turn up at a private hospital in the UK and get free treatment under the NHS, it is just that Spain is unusual having such a network of private hospitals which emergency patients are routinely directed to. But that is just understanding and using the system - although I appreciate not easy to think clearly at such a stressful time.

As for paying for some aspects of medical treatment even though you have an EHIC; the point which is often lost is that the EHIC does not substitute the UK’s ‘free at the point of delivery’ principle to the overseas healthcare system, but allows you to benefit as if you were a local. It is not uncommon in EU countries for a payment needing to be made at the time for which the local could then seek a refund through the local health/social security system. The EHIC provides the same benefits; pay and then seek a refund back in the UK.

As for state hospitals not being nearby! That is just the same as the UK. Sure you may be lucky and have an NHS hospital nearby, but for many (like me) you might have to travel 10 or 20 miles to the next town.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370710

Postby airbus330 » December 29th, 2020, 9:08 am

This has just been covered on R4 Today and I was surprised to find that the EHIC has survived in any form, but it has, currently to the expiration date of any existing card and then the scheme replaced with a 'Global' scheme. Whatever that means. It sounds as vague as the replacement to the Erasmus scheme.
I've always had an EHIC card, but have regarded it as the insurance of last resort. Anyone who has arrived at a Spanish hospital will have experienced the rather American interest expressed by the staff in your insurance documents. The experience I found in Germany was rather closer to the UK. And there is the problem, few folk have a detailed idea of how each European country operates its health system, and don't forget EHIC (as I understand) only guarantees the minimum level of cover offered by each state to its citizens. This can be vastly different to the cradle to grave UK NHS. So, the reality is no change. If you venture out of the UK, buy £8 worth of internet insurance, it is a good investment. However, as I get older and my wife has a pre-existing condition, that £8 is soon going to be a distant memory. So, I may come to be glad of that new-Ehic scheme, if it appears.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370712

Postby Dod101 » December 29th, 2020, 9:17 am

airbus330 wrote:This has just been covered on R4 Today and I was surprised to find that the EHIC has survived in any form, but it has, currently to the expiration date of any existing card and then the scheme replaced with a 'Global' scheme. Whatever that means. It sounds as vague as the replacement to the Erasmus scheme.
I've always had an EHIC card, but have regarded it as the insurance of last resort. Anyone who has arrived at a Spanish hospital will have experienced the rather American interest expressed by the staff in your insurance documents. The experience I found in Germany was rather closer to the UK. And there is the problem, few folk have a detailed idea of how each European country operates its health system, and don't forget EHIC (as I understand) only guarantees the minimum level of cover offered by each state to its citizens. This can be vastly different to the cradle to grave UK NHS. So, the reality is no change. If you venture out of the UK, buy £8 worth of internet insurance, it is a good investment. However, as I get older and my wife has a pre-existing condition, that £8 is soon going to be a distant memory. So, I may come to be glad of that new-Ehic scheme, if it appears.


And I would always make sure that I have a decent credit card or two with me.

Dod

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Re: EHIC cards

#370716

Postby Mike88 » December 29th, 2020, 9:40 am

AF62 wrote:
Mike88 wrote:In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.


You wouldn’t expect to just turn up at a private hospital in the UK and get free treatment under the NHS, it is just that Spain is unusual having such a network of private hospitals which emergency patients are routinely directed to. But that is just understanding and using the system - although I appreciate not easy to think clearly at such a stressful time.

As for paying for some aspects of medical treatment even though you have an EHIC; the point which is often lost is that the EHIC does not substitute the UK’s ‘free at the point of delivery’ principle to the overseas healthcare system, but allows you to benefit as if you were a local. It is not uncommon in EU countries for a payment needing to be made at the time for which the local could then seek a refund through the local health/social security system. The EHIC provides the same benefits; pay and then seek a refund back in the UK.

As for state hospitals not being nearby! That is just the same as the UK. Sure you may be lucky and have an NHS hospital nearby, but for many (like me) you might have to travel 10 or 20 miles to the next town.


I think you have missed the point. If you have a serious illness and an ambulance takes you to a private hospital and you are too ill to be moved the EHIC card is of little use. That is why I stated a EHIC card is not a substitute for insurance. Of course you can travel to a State hospital but from experience that is only of use if you can get there yourself.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370758

Postby tjh290633 » December 29th, 2020, 11:18 am

Lootman wrote:
tjh290633 wrote:The only time I used mine was in Norway. Funny that.

Ha.

I would never trust it anyway. Don't most people buy travel insurance when they travel?

My wife was taken off our cruise ship to a hospital in Oslo, where the first question asked in A&E was did she have a card? From then on everything went smoothly. My travel insurance, with American Express on their Platinum Card at that time, paid out for all my expenses, our repatriation and, I think, £100 a day while she was in their care.

Not only that, but the surgeon was drop dead gorgeous.

Perhaps the EU experience might not have been worth having.

TJH

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Re: EHIC cards

#370769

Postby AF62 » December 29th, 2020, 11:34 am

Mike88 wrote:
AF62 wrote:
Mike88 wrote:In practice I have found the EH1C card of little practical use. When I spent around 4-5 months a year in Spain many people told me the card was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. When I came to use the card when my wife had a stroke, the ambulance took her to a private hospital where they threw the EH1C card back at me. Most hospitals in Spain are run by private companies. There are State hospitals but they are often many miles away from where you would expect. In Barcelona there is a State Hospital but even then the EH1C card doesn't cover the cost of seeing a consultant and the nearest State hospital to Benidorm is in Villajosa which is at least 20 miles away. Obviously the position is different in each country but beware thinking the EH1C is a substitute for insurance; it is not.


You wouldn’t expect to just turn up at a private hospital in the UK and get free treatment under the NHS, it is just that Spain is unusual having such a network of private hospitals which emergency patients are routinely directed to. But that is just understanding and using the system - although I appreciate not easy to think clearly at such a stressful time.

As for paying for some aspects of medical treatment even though you have an EHIC; the point which is often lost is that the EHIC does not substitute the UK’s ‘free at the point of delivery’ principle to the overseas healthcare system, but allows you to benefit as if you were a local. It is not uncommon in EU countries for a payment needing to be made at the time for which the local could then seek a refund through the local health/social security system. The EHIC provides the same benefits; pay and then seek a refund back in the UK.

As for state hospitals not being nearby! That is just the same as the UK. Sure you may be lucky and have an NHS hospital nearby, but for many (like me) you might have to travel 10 or 20 miles to the next town.


I think you have missed the point. If you have a serious illness and an ambulance takes you to a private hospital and you are too ill to be moved the EHIC card is of little use. That is why I stated a EHIC card is not a substitute for insurance. Of course you can travel to a State hospital but from experience that is only of use if you can get there yourself.


No I fully understood the point, and that Spain is relatively unusual within Europe of private hospitals operating A&E ambulances, and hence the importance of making sure that whatever emergency ambulance is called that you are taken to a state hospital rather than a private hospital - although appreciate this is not always the first thing to come to mind in a stressful situation. I am aware that the default for many hotels, etc. is to simply call the private ambulance because of the assumption that people will have insurance, so people may not even be asked whether they want to be taken to the state hospital or a private hospital.

I don't disagree that the EHIC is not a substitute for insurance, but it is a useful addition to insurance, offering cover where insurance polices do not.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370774

Postby AF62 » December 29th, 2020, 11:43 am

yorkshirelad1 wrote:It used to be the case that you could renew an EHIC up to 6 months early, and get 5 years validity (I did this in Jan 2020).
If your EHIC card is about to expire (in the next 6 months), you might try and renew. There are reports of people being able to renew and apply afresh (depending on which website you use to access the service). It might take a while for the alleged replacement (GHIC) to get sorted, so it may pay to get another EHIC card (if you need to) if you can.

The usual website (which suggests application/renew is no longer possible) is: http://www.nhs.uk/ehic

The application website that I have used in the past (which talks about both applications and renewals) is:
https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/startApplication.do


Thanks for that.

Our cards expire in May next year and using the second (ehic.org.uk) link I was able to submit a renewal application and received a confirmation of acceptance back.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370777

Postby bluedonkey » December 29th, 2020, 11:51 am

tjh290633 wrote:
Lootman wrote:
tjh290633 wrote:The only time I used mine was in Norway. Funny that.

Ha.

I would never trust it anyway. Don't most people buy travel insurance when they travel?

My wife was taken off our cruise ship to a hospital in Oslo, where the first question asked in A&E was did she have a card? From then on everything went smoothly. My travel insurance, with American Express on their Platinum Card at that time, paid out for all my expenses, our repatriation and, I think, £100 a day while she was in their care.

Not only that, but the surgeon was drop dead gorgeous.

Perhaps the EU experience might not have been worth having.

TJH

Hi Terry,

I was interested to hear that you used the Amex Platinum medical insurance. My wife had need of that while travelling in Central America. A bit like your experience, the service from Amex medical insurance was absolutely exemplary. However, it's not cheap. It sounds like you ceased using Amex Platinum, why was that? I'm always in two minds whether to renew due to the cost, but then I think of how valuable it was when it was needed.

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Re: EHIC cards

#370780

Postby swill453 » December 29th, 2020, 11:54 am

AF62 wrote:Our cards expire in May next year and using the second (ehic.org.uk) link I was able to submit a renewal application and received a confirmation of acceptance back.

This link (https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/health ... ance-card/) notes that the application portal still refers to an EHIC, but you'll actually get a GHIC.

Scott.


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