European health insurance card and travel insurance

monflat

we are goin to Spain soon what's the differece between the above ?
we have the e h I c so do we need to get travel insurance?
apart from the obvious flights delayed cancellations etc that travel insurance wouls cover
but health wise would we be doubling up getting travel insurance when we have the European health insurance card ?
?
what's the minimum age for a ehic ?

thanks

BuffyBot

EHIC only entitles you to basic medical care (not nessecarily free) in the country that you are visiting: i.e. if you go to country A, and residents of country A pay €500 for a medical situation, then you would be entitled to the same. It is NOT a substitute for proper travel insurance, which can get you much more (i.e. access to private healthcare, assistance with travel issues as a result of medical situations etc etc).

monflat

BuffyBot wrote: »

EHIC only entitles you to basic medical care (not nessecarily free) in the country that you are visiting: i.e. if you go to country A, and residents of country A pay €500 for a medical situation, then you would be entitled to the same. It is NOT a substitute for proper travel insurance, which can get you much more (i.e. access to private healthcare, assistance with travel issues as a result of medical situations etc etc).

ah thanks for that
that explains things a bit better

schemingbohemia

While Buffybot is correct, for most people the EHIC will work fine in emegency situations. Also, flight delays/cancellations will also be covered under EU consumer law. So keep that in mind before buying insurance. Also, do you have health insurance in Ireland? You may already be covered under that for travel.

However, I'm not sure if there are any travel insurance products that don't actually include some level of health insurance anyway so if you're going to buy travel insurance make sure to read the different levels of cover provided. For peace of mind, and the fact that I go on a number of trips per year I always buy annual cover and as I may be outside the EU I always get really good medical cover on it.

ThisRegard

Some medical centres abroad may also refuse to see you without the card, even if you had private travel insurance.

another native

EHIC card will not cover any treatment that is privately provided (e.g. private clinic or private hospital. If repatriation to Ireland is needed the EHIC card will not suffice. Neither will it cover lost passports or personal items. Each family member is entitled to an EHIC card.

coylemj

As the OP is talking about Spain, I recall reading a post a while back from someone who was brought to a hospital in Spain and the doctor demanded cash before he'd treat him even though he had the EHIC.

If you're in a large city where there is a big public hospital that treats their local citizens for free under their public health system then you're probably going to be fine with the EHIC but otherwise I wouldn't be relying on it.

There is no substitute for proper travel insurance which covers medical treatment in public hospitals and private clinics and medical repatriation, even if you have the EHIC and/or VHI cover.

Anita M.

There is a problem opening the website http://www.ehic.ie/
It does not open.
However the scam ehic webisite asking for 10 euro's will open fine.
Is someone within the ehic earning monies on the side with this rogue website?
Is that someone blocking the official webiste?

schemingbohemia

Opens fine for me.

keithclancy

BuffyBot wrote: »

EHIC only entitles you to basic medical care (not nessecarily free) in the country that you are visiting: i.e. if you go to country A, and residents of country A pay €500 for a medical situation, then you would be entitled to the same. It is NOT a substitute for proper travel insurance, which can get you much more (i.e. access to private healthcare, assistance with travel issues as a result of medical situations etc etc).

The EHIC Entitles you to the same care as a local resident in the country:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=509&langId=en

How does it work?

When you show your EHIC, you will receive treatment under the same conditions and at the same cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country.

Be aware that each country’s healthcare system is different. Services that cost you nothing at home might NOT be free in another country.

Emergency condition is deemed as something that occurred on your visit to that country (Accident/Falling Ill) and does not cover health tourism (e.g. going to another country because the facilities are better - that's covered under the S2 form)

The only ones that are covered fully in two countries are cross border workers which will be covered under S1 or in some rare cases S2 forms.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/social-security-forms/index_en.htm

There have been some issues in Greece and Spain as far as I know and the best thing to do in the event of an emergency is to look up a public hospital and not ask a taxi driver to bring you to 'hospital' as they have been known in rare cases to take backhanders from Private Hospitals to bring customers there.

Maybe take a list with you just in case, something like:
http://www.yourviva.com/life-in-spain/healthcare-in-southern-spain/hospitals-in-southern-spain/

If you do have an issue afterwards then make a complaint to Solvit:
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/help/index_en.htm

In reality though you will more than likely be fine, just don't do anything silly (e.g. rent mopeds)