The European Health Insurance Card And Travel Insurance

By Author: Mathew Sabri
Total Articles: 33
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The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles citizens of EU nations to receive free or discount medical care whilst travelling within the EU. But what a lot of people don't realise is that it is no substitute for travel insurance. The EHIC isn't something that is going to fully protect your wallet from the costs of treatment abroad, and definitely does not cover things like replacement flights.

We in the Britain are lucky to have a great and free healthcare service, but elsewhere in the EU this is not always the case. Some courses of treatment, operations, or other services will need to be partially subsidised by the patient. The EHIC is bound by the conditions of the hospitals country, not by the home country of the patient, and so might surprise you when it comes to payment.

To use one common example, we have the French health service. If you don't buy travel insurance and really solely on your EHIC, the following problems would occur should you need to seek medical attention:

Prescription costs - Some prescriptions will be subsidised with the EHIC, but not to the full amount and some will not be ...
... subsidised at all. Without travel insurance you could end up paying for any prescriptions, and while most drugs don't cost the earth some medications can be quite expensive.

Doctors consultation - Quite a common occurrence, which might include everyday maladies such as stomach upsets. We in the UK are used to being able to see a GP free whenever we want, but in France if you don't have travel insurance then you will be liable for 30% of the consultation fee. This can become a real burden should you need to call on the doctor out-of-hours, when the price would be quite high.

Hospital fees - Something else not included in EHIC cover is the surcharge that hospitals in France tag onto a patients bill for every day that they are an in-patient. Most medical conditions fortunately do not need the patient to stay for a long time, but some do, as in the case of broken limbs or when the patient must be monitored.

With all of these examples, having travel insurance would save you from any financial commitment. And this is only medical bills being discussed here, there are many other benefits of travel insurance that are invaluable, such as cancellation cover and theft cover. They can be just as important as the medical side of things.

Spain, Switzerland and Portugal are further examples of places that will leave you with a large liability for medical costs if you travel with an EHIC but without travel insurance. For this reason as well as numerous other reasons, having travel insurance is an essential part of travelling that should not be ignored.

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