A European health insurance card is a form of agreement between EU countries that allows member citizens to access affordable and subsidized medical services while traveling within. In other words, anytime you find yourself in need of medical treatment or checkup in any of the 28 EU countries, Switzerland, or in Iceland, you can get treated in any State owned hospital. In the absence of such an agreement or a private health insurance, you’re likely to incur huge medical bills being shuffled from one private hospital to another, in foreign country. Here in the UK, EHIC, as the card is often referred to, replaced the old E111 in 2005. Thus if you plan to travel across Europe, it is very important that you have your card with you. Ensure that you’ve renewed it before traveling to avoid instances where you travel with an expired card assuming all is well.
It’s important that you get your EHIC Card Online, from a reputable and reliable Website;
- One major benefit of getting your EHIC card from a reliable website is the fact that you are always assured of getting it sooner. Most of these websites are owned by experienced and knowledgeable agents, who are really good at pushing things through. If you plan to travel across Europe for business of holiday and don’t have the luxury of time to start downloading forms and applying yourself; some websites will do that on your behalf pretty fast, of course for a small fee.
- Each year, almost 4 million health insurance cards owned by British nationals get lost, damaged, or expired. More often than not, most of these people aren’t sure really of how to go about replacing their cards, or even the fact that even as they wait for the newly applied cards, they still can access health services. Websites that deal in downloading them will advice you accordingly on such issues before traveling. In most cases when a card is lost while you’re visiting an EU country, the agents and service providers in these websites will help you get a provisional replacement Certificate. This helps you access healthcare same you would with a card.
- There have been a few and isolated instances of refusals by some EU countries, to let British nationals access healthcare. This means that British holiday makers in any of those countries are forced to seek treatment in private hospitals, as was the case sometime back in Spain. This is unlawful; however, it is important you are informed of such well in advance, so that you are just know what to expect in the EU country you’re visiting. Getting your EHIC card from a reliable website means that you are also given some extra advice on some of these things. Mind you, most of these websites are closely related or partnered with travel agencies across Europe. You can thus always count on their advice regarding the various healthcare systems across Europe. These instances are however rare and have been reported by a few British holiday makers.
- If you are looking to renew your card on time, you can as well do it from reliable websites. This is because doing so helps you avoid any unforeseen instances where you’ve traveled with a seemingly valid card, only for it to expire a few days into your arrival in an EU country. It’s always advisable to renew your card 6 months before its expiry date, to avoid last minute rush and inconveniences. Yet, most people like waiting until the last minute, before running helter skelter trying to get their cards renewed.
Read more on EHIC Facebook Page.