What is a European Health Insurance Card?

                                                                                         

If you are booking a holiday, you will need to obtain some form of travel insurance. Most people choose to search for travel insurance online as insurance comparison sites make it so easy to compare deals, and the rates offered to online customers are often cheaper. However, if you are booking a European holiday, then your holiday insurance costs can be lowered considerably when you get yourself an EHIC or European Heath Insurance Card.

If you travel to any EEA or European Economic Area countries or Switzerland, then a European Health Insurance Card will enable you to claim free or subsidised medical costs while abroad. You may well have had to use an E111 form for this purpose in the past, but these E111 forms have now been replaced by EHICs.

Before you apply for an EHIC, you should check to see whether or not you are eligible for a card. Those who are older than 16 years of age and who reside within the UK can apply for a card, and the best thing is that they are completely free.

Your EHIC will enable you to be treated as an insured national would be treated in your destination country. However, any treatment you receive must be state-provided treatment, and not private, otherwise your EHIC will not cover you.

It is important to remember that not all health care costs will be covered by your European Health Insurance Card. And if you need to be flown back to your home country for treatment you will need to carry this cost yourself. For these reasons, it is advised that you also take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy when holidaying.

The EHIC works by giving you a unique number with which you can claim back any of your incurred healthcare costs from the UK government. You can make a claim while receiving treatment abroad, or you can make a claim on your return home.

You can use your EHIC anywhere within the European Economic Area. This means that you can use it in any of the twenty-seven countries that are part of the European Union, as well as in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Your EHIC is completely free and can obtained by calling 0845 606 2030, or by filling out an application on the Department of Health or EHIC website, or at any UK post office. Just remember that each member of your travelling party needs to apply for their own separate card.

About the author:
If you have been saving up to go abroad in your gap year, you do not want to have to pay a fortune for backpackers travel insurance. etravelinsurance.co.uk offer special rates to provide cheap insurance to protect you and your valuables.

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