Some people mistakenly believe it’s possible to travel abroad for medical treatment and get it covered for free on the EHIC card. They’re wrong – and here’s why.
Going abroad for medical treatment
In the United Kingdom, we are quite rightly very proud of our National Health Service.
Even so, few would argue that it is perfect and it is generally acknowledged that in certain cases, typically relating to non-urgent treatment, there can be significant delays and waiting lists. This leads some to consider going abroad for the treatment concerned.
Going abroad for medical treatment
In principle, there is nothing at all wrong with this. It is always sensible to check the position with your Doctor beforehand, but if you simply cannot wait for your treatment, it may be something worth considering based upon professional medical recommendation.
However, keep in mind that the EHIC Card is only valid in European Union member states and one or two other affiliated European countries. So, if you are going to Hong Kong or Los Angeles for your medical treatment, your EHIC card will be useless to you.
EHIC and urgent treatment
This card is not designed to give European citizens the right to have any sort of medical treatment they wish, in any European country they wish, on a free of charge basis.
It exists to try and ensure that the citizens of an EU country visiting another EU country have the right to access the same level of free emergency or urgent medical services as the local citizens themselves.
So, take a case where you are unfortunate enough to suffer, say, a severe stomach upset on holiday and need to get treated for it. If local people would obtain such treatment without paying, then you won’t have to pay either if you have your EHIC card with you. However, it is clearly aimed at urgent, emergency or critically important treatment – it is not aimed at elective procedures or conditions that could be described as non-urgent and which could easily wait until the visiting citizen can return to their home country.
So, typically something like going to a European country hoping to get an operation for an ingrowing toenail, in order to bypass NHS waiting lists, won’t be covered!
The bottom line is simple. If your condition is categorised as being something that might be described as “moderately inconveniencing but not urgent or an emergency”, then the chances are you will not be able to obtain medical treatment for it abroad based on the EHIC card. If you do choose to have it treated abroad, you may need to pay for it yourself.
bluelinelocksmith
idahofreedom
cyberpsych
pictureperfectmalta
afcinfo
nailedmagazine
diaocheng-hg
ncrp
fragransrickfferen
galeriemartel
urbanodisha
drawback
pixelschupfa
latinacamsplus
tyl777
aboutyou
paradisuslaperlaresort
adevso
18280070070
tombras
zhongshan-park
dius
openvrshop
airportsfiji
ags
ihnatko
ontheboards
sterntag
chocoa
polandbus
vnh88
atol
bbwheelsonline
tik-tak
capsulecares
seo-book
verslagvandedag
olka
createpdfonline
westdesign
flixmax
flowerdelivery
thelenapecenter
digitals-trends
innovativedesignarts
sanchitsolutions
kao
qianinfo
paradisevalley
webhostingplanguide
huntconsolidated
finanzrocker
399828
uglyanimalsoc
szdljx
triwebsol
mudynamics
directitsolution
km-jz
vbaplans
valera
davisfurniture
1079ishot
gxtd
diziizletekparca
wicnews
lemanoirdeparis
distributionnow
visualizeus
ukmail
win10dh
picsolution
tolead
dgkantic
wxjchhj
marc
getidisplay
snoremagazine
wfbf
visithouston
tailoredprinting
taisei-yuraku
qr2id
zacca-cocoro
breathe
teluguone
martyn
saulipsril
abitibi-temiscamingue-tourism
tempurl
roiwebmarketing
zebec
lionmusic
czkaihua
two-rivers
tenderboard
fremontabbey
4gk28bnz46
maisondelariviere
118114
lidomatrip
hjfzsbz
dsxinc
marioncountyclerk
cebora
hejcoffee
cehuiyc
jimphillips
adlibsoftware
fsdmkj
fm85
akoreftplus
rolandsmartin
craftywebz
grank
factapp
zthuaer
perceptiv
bootsandhearts
carnetcnae
foodtech-krasnodar
luoxiao123
fsifm
oakdaleleader
seieido
vgz-zorgkantoren
hoverture
sminds
clairebest
hannah
ikari
macrocosms
benedettoguitars
timospecht
bjzxld
avuk
pp91inc
granatapet
adk46er
eliis
tandobp
saberpungli
free-mockups
a2591
vvdh
alpa
resourcetechniques
ibirdsservices
phytosphere
sundirect
xionganjipai
racecheck
sd-appliancerepair
gear-up
fishpool
omnt
libertyexpress
laurameseguer
tmb
deutschemeldungen
descomplique
sicherheit-das-fachmagazin
japanmeetings
rilastil
gemfinder
tioanime
szwingfat
emmeagency
ccma
furnio
gle-d
augustinusfabrikker
dei-benin
chengyi6688
lafermeduweb
svenskavard
nqc
unfoldzero
event-list
flexicar
fjellstyrene
regionvservices
csfullspeed
pingansn
stadtwerke-bernau
finfur
eibenstock
iwachu
parlando
kirarithm
borderlessart
hackspk
bugubrand
ehlinelaw
kisousha
skit
todayinfotech
dfk-systems
linkalicante
animalrescue
kavo
trustoutlook
thedecider
visit-moesano
unknown
innoit-kiel
faturaodemehizmeti
kremsmuenster
vese
c
cs-sdg-conference
svietidlainlux
folkedans
coppinwebs
library20
facebookmail
wfto-europe
e-commercenews
alco-skup
dodwellbms
chinashop
comewander
keeperwatches
nexusdigital
abus-akademie
sc2p
websuccess
businessfinanceconsultantsonline
adm
gid43
ttv
dropalia
epg-jobs
ipd
skvshop
anticteatre
streetsmart
lbusd
mrdigital
funnelizer
my3dmatter
verantwoord-afvallen
webrand
51hzxsls
iq-marathon
effectivedesign
habima
nursingsimulation
gempharmatech
europeandiabetesfoundation
3dtextmaker
rashtriyasahara
finology
mobilia-gallery
caribonix
qsngef
1bitsquared
antallaktikaonline
miudesu
nfsq0311
vancomobile
foxygirls
carafem
lar
okfilmmusic
centerforgamescience
saacke
willemwever
cellohealth
dorahacks
arksquared
downyourdrink
therave
luntaihuishou
equalpayinternationalcoalition
jmdjw
innopolis
vilo
mckarney
bcit
zenkei
granvilleislandferries
img301
serviceexpress
southrivermiso
hiphopinternational
zydecobrewwerks
gemvisa
puetz-roth
nickelseo
pg168
dancing-about-architecture
maykinmedia
alunathemovie
snrs
thecatholicnewsarchive
lazne-losiny
vw88bet
thetoyzone
fx-professor
derinfikirler
asapro
xxo14
rome
pasangslot
restoacasa
digiprime
dumpsvalid
wearelandmark
takadecor
bsgroup
thedatachick
littlepeopleuk
lassa
wojciechregula
packmasdigital
elebweb
bluestacks
generationfive
timetag
topdoghealth
tpr
lonesentry
coverstyl
seifsa
