I have seen comments on the Forum that the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) covers you if you need emergency treatment at a state hospital during a temporary visit to another EEA country or Switzerland.
Also, in Macmillan Cancer Support’s booklet “TRAVEL AND CANCER” there is a section on page 83 entitled “Emergency healthcare in European countries” which contains the sentence “An EHIC entitles you to free or less expensive emergency treatment in some European countries”.
Further, there has been a succession of adverts in the media in last month or so for travel insurance. In an attempt to explain what medical treatment is covered the adverts say that the EHIC “ ... only covers medical emergencies ...”.
It is misleading to say that the EHIC only covers medical emergencies when the EU's healthcare rules provide that the EHIC covers “treatment that is medically necessary” during a stay in another EEA country including Switzerland.
I think “emergency treatment” should be replaced by “treatment that is medically necessary” which would eliminate any misunderstanding about what medical treatment is covered by the EHIC. Over the years I have always understood that treatment which is medically necessary is that which is required but is not in an emergency situation. Emergency treatment can be the result of a sudden change which produce a medical situation which requires immediate treatment.
I have mentioned the points above to the Department of Health’s EU Healthcare Team.
Information about the EHIC can be seen at the link below which contains a number of links to important aspects of using the EHIC.
https://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx
For ease I have included an extract below of some of the text from the link.
“A valid European Health Insurance Card gives you the right to access state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland.
The EHIC covers treatment that is medically necessary until your planned return home. Treatment should be provided on the same basis as it would to a resident of that country, either at a reduced cost or, in many cases, for free. For example, in some countries, patients are expected to directly contribute a percentage towards the cost of their state-provided treatment. This is known as a patient co-payment. If you receive treatment under this type of healthcare system, you are expected to pay the same co-payment charge as a patient from that country.
The EHIC also covers the treatment of pre-existing medical conditions and routine maternity care provided the reason for your visit is not specifically to give birth or to seek treatment. For more information about what is covered in each country, see our country-by-country guide.”
The DH’s explanation of the EHIC arrangements obviously corresponds with the information provided by the European Commission as you can see from the link below.
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=559
I hope this is useful for you.
Alan