EHIC

Started by zedzedeleven, March 21, 2016, 22:46:24 PM

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zedzedeleven

Does anyone go on holiday without travel insurance and just rely on an EHIC card?  Not interested if you don`t, but interested if you do. I`m thinking of doing it after umpteen years of buying travel insurance and nowt to show for it.  Flights are relatively cheap now and hardly worth insuring.  Accommodation likewise, so it`s just the eventuality of falling ill. Just need to keep out of private hospitals and clinics and use the ones that will accept you with an ehic card.
Mentor to the boneheads.

Black 5

I only carry the EHIC card as it covers more than some insurances. I found that my insurance did not cover me if I fell off a pair of steps and the cost of cover for existing conditions was getting silly. It is a risk assessment at the end of the day and only you will know the likelihood of an existing condition forcing medical treatment that will not be covered by the EHIC  and you are not fit enough to board a plane home. EHIC is fine for acute conditions like a broken bone or a chest infection etc.
if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of being in hospital without the EHIC card there is a UK phone number that the hospital can ring and the UK end will deal with all the paperwork directly with the hospital. 00441912181999. Not any use for private hospitals.
"Your not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on"

Deso

If you fall ill or have an accident that can be sorted and you can get home under your own steam then fine. If you find yourself in a position here you need to be repatriated in an air ambulance then you are stuffed, costs big bucks to fly you home that way.
We have insurance through our bank account but we have a trip later this year which is through a tour operator and we have paid £11.75 each for insurance. Not exactly a bank breaker.
Regards, Neil
Looking forward to the day I tick the "One way only" box when booking flights to Fuerte. [:)]

tl2222

Just a thought but if Britain exits the EU, there will probably be no EHIC.........

duncolm

The EHIC is already valid in some non-EU countries, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway....

fatherted

Unfortunately during our current stay we have had to use the local hospital using EHIC card which is fine for the hospital treatment but does not cover any other expenses you may incur eg. Further medication,transport,mobility aids etc. So far we have spent over â,¬500 and we have not finished yet.
Last year a friend of ours was in Tenerife when he was taken ill and needed 4 weeks in ICU before being flown back to the UK via air ambulance where he spent another 2 weeks in ICU before passing away. His widow told us the cost of the ambulance alone  was 10k (dont know whether â,¬ or £) a hell of a lot of money by any standard.

I personally would'nt leave my house without having private travel ins but everyone to their own. Also some tvl ins dont cover Spain and some other European countries


waggy

I'm with you FatherTed: I think about who would be saddled with the bill for repatriation of an ex-Waggy should the worst happen to me on hols. Best insurance I can get is definitely the answer.

zedzedeleven

Well that`s as maybe Waggy, but if that insurance was north of two grand for a week in Spain would you reconsider?
Mentor to the boneheads.

paully

North of 2 Grand..Blimey ZZ if you`re that far gone have you considered Morecambe??..the air can be bracing, so they tell me  ;D ;D

  Seriously if thats the cheapest you can get cover for,then I would think twice about going abroad, its not worth it, but neither is going without it. I worked, until recently, in the funeral trade and trust me, getting someone home from Spain is not cheap, to say the least, and that`s without the hassle of the paperwork that you need to pay an agent to do on your behalf!!..The air ambulance issue has been mentioned but what if your flight to or from had to be diverted in order for you to receive medical care. You might be lucky and get EHIC care but you`d have to get home under your own steam and that might not be cheap..

    As always a case for and against but on balance its not something I would go without....the EHIC card is not EU issued.Different system and would not be affected by Brexit
I HATE computer thingyss

Some Bloke

Quote from: paully on March 22, 2016, 11:00:48 AM

the EHIC card is not EU issued.Different system and would not be affected by Brexit

The EHIC is issued under the provisions of EU social security legislation. It also extends to EEA countries by separate agreement (EEA is the European Economic Area, so as mentioned including Norway, Iceland & Liechtenstein).

As long as we are part of either the EU or EEA, then the EHIC is unaffected. If we leave completely, then those rights fall.

Ivemovedon

We will have to stand on our own two feet then.Like most of the other countries globally.Nowt to worry about here . We either strike up a deal with the EU like all the other EEA countries. Or...  it's pretty simple for the UK government to come up with a similar scheme for its own citizens. Funded by....yes you've guessed it , a small slice of the billions saved contributing annually to the EU. ( And if not an even smaller slice of the annual Foreign aid budget). It really is as easy as that.

paully

Your right, I should have made it clear, if we leave we would remain as part of the EEA (5th biggest economy in the world after all)..so brexit would`nt affect it
I HATE computer thingyss

waggy

Quote from: zedzedeleven on March 22, 2016, 10:37:56 AM
Well that`s as maybe Waggy, but if that insurance was north of two grand for a week in Spain would you reconsider?
Well, it wouldn't be , would it; and if it was you probably wouldn't be fit enough even for a sun-lounger, would you.

simmey

My 86 year old mother-in-law travels to mainland Spain regularly with only her EHIC, travel insurance was getting far too complicated and expensive, she knows which hospital to use if necessary and has used it without any problems. She has also told us to cremate her there if the worst happens.  :o

zedzedeleven

Ah, at last, an answer to the question. Thanks Simmey.
quote Waggy <Well, it wouldn't be , would it; and if it was you probably wouldn't be fit enough even for a sun-lounger, would you.> Oh yes it was, despite being fit enough to go on a two hour bike ride and pump iron every other day, non smoker and all that. Quotes have ranged from just over a grand to over two grand and more than one no quote. Looks like I will be joining Simmey`s grandmother. Just how much is a cremation in Spain?
During my search for travel insurance it transpired that Spain is particularly difficult because their prices for health provision are twice that of France.
Mentor to the boneheads.

simmey

I have no idea how much a cremation is in Spain but she has been going there twice a year for at least 4 weeks each time, for the last 3 years with only her EHIC, I think she will have saved more than enough.

Maybe someone on here will know the cost.

Ivemovedon

This thread's just revitalised a poser i've often wondered about of the consequences of a rather macabre scenario........ if someone dies on holiday in Spain after a period in hospital and has no cash , no medical insurance, no EHIC card or any finances or relatives at home who can pay any bills. What happens to the deceased?. How are they buried and where. And who foots the morgue, medical, transport and funeral costs ?. The Spanish state or is the UK government chased for any shortfall?. Highly unlikely i know ....but it must have happened.


paully

Yes such a scenario has happened and I`ve heard of it, being in the trade as it were..In those circumstances the State(wherever you are) will arrange, what used to be called a paupers funeral, on public health grounds. Such provisions apply in the UK, regardless of nationality, and are called contract funerals. Every Hospital and Local Authority has a contract with a local Funeral Director, who will do the funeral at a previously agreed price. (nb not many FD`s seek the contract these days due to the low prices on offer)..

   Although conducted with due dignity, there are absolutely no frills attached!!..In the UK you will be conveyed in the Hearse. In Spain, probably in the back of a van...............if your lucky  ;D
I HATE computer thingyss

zedzedeleven

Quote from: simmey on March 23, 2016, 06:45:23 AM
I have no idea how much a cremation is in Spain but she has been going there twice a year for at least 4 weeks each time, for the last 3 years with only her EHIC, I think she will have saved more than enough.

Maybe someone on here will know the cost.
When I Googled it the cost of a funeral was 3-4 thousand euros, a cremation was 3-4 hundred euros. Granny is quids in on those figures Simmey !
Mentor to the boneheads.

Ivemovedon

Quote from: paully on March 23, 2016, 09:31:29 AM
Yes such a scenario has happened and I`ve heard of it, being in the trade as it were..In those circumstances the State(wherever you are) will arrange, what used to be called a paupers funeral, on public health grounds. Such provisions apply in the UK, regardless of nationality, and are called contract funerals. Every Hospital and Local Authority has a contract with a local Funeral Director, who will do the funeral at a previously agreed price. (nb not many FD`s seek the contract these days due to the low prices on offer)..

   Although conducted with due dignity, there are absolutely no frills attached!!..In the UK you will be conveyed in the Hearse. In Spain, probably in the back of a van...............if your lucky  ;D
I thought that was the most likely outcome. Cheers paully.

fatherted

An old article but still applies today but no doubt with greater figures
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4357404.Insurance_could_have_saved___90m/


Ivemovedon

#23
No deal could also mean no EU Nationals access to the NHS. That might focus mind on the almost extinct EHIC card. Where there's a will there's a way.