What Is A European Health Insurance Card?

All holidays require travel health insurance, and holidays to Europe are no different. The majority of holidaymakers now arrange their holiday insurance on the internet, often using one of the many travel insurance comparison websites to find the cheapest policies. One of the advantages of booking a family holiday within the EU is that you can save further on holiday insurance costs. Thanks to the European Health Insurance Card Scheme, or EHIC, you can save money on medical costs should you require them on your trip.

An EHIC entitles the holder to a variety of free healthcare while travelling within countries in the EU and Switzerland. The EHIC replaced the E111 form scheme, which ran until January 2006.


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.

If you require any medical attention while on holiday, your European Health Insurance Card will ensure that you receive subsidised or free medical care as long as this medical care is not private.

Should a relative need to stay with you while you are ill, your EHIC will not cover the costs of their accommodation either. And not all treatment costs will be covered by an EHIC, so it is still highly recommended that you obtain separate travel insurance cover too.

Your EHIC is used as a means of reclaiming medical costs incurred while abroad from the National Health Service in the UK. It is for this reason that only state-provided medical treatments will be covered.

Your European Health Insurance card is valid in a range of countries. It can be used anywhere within the EEA, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland. The EEA is made up Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and all of the European Union countries too.

There are a variety of ways for you to obtain your EHIC. The simplest is to log on to the EHIC website where you can fill in an online application form. Alternatively, forms can be found at any UK post office branch, or you can call the EHIC application number on 0845 606 2030.

By: mathew sabri

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