{"id":7089,"date":"2025-04-28T06:49:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T06:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oxygenworldwide.com\/?p=7089"},"modified":"2025-04-28T06:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T06:49:49","slug":"a-guide-to-ehic-ghic-for-european-travelers-with-medical-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oxygenworldwide.com\/de\/a-guide-to-ehic-ghic-for-european-travelers-with-medical-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to EHIC\/GHIC for European Travelers with Medical Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travelling abroad can be fraught with worries anyway for nervous passengers, but when you have medical needs, that anxiety takes on a new depth. What happens if you need medical care while you’re abroad in Europe, you might be thinking. And understandably so. But there are systems and support structures that can make it not only possible for you to travel with relative ease and comfort, but that actively help you to do so, adding in a layer of reassurance that is all the more welcome for being entirely reliable.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EHIC is a card which allows people living in certain areas to access free or heavily subsidised medical care while travelling through Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do note that these cards are not to be used in place of travel insurance and nor will they cover any ‘medical tourism’ procedures. They are purely intended to cover you in the instances of emergency medical care: sudden illness, unexpected injury, and maintaining good quality of life for existing conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is a small caveat with the latter: when possible, make sure you plan ahead and let medical people in your destination city or town know that you are coming to stay, when that will be, and what medications or treatments you might need during that time. This is purely because some medical items need to be requested well in advance from central supplies \u2013 often a time-consuming process that it is hard to circumnavigate or speed up when you are in a hurry for your struggling body!<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the above caveat, this aspect of the EHIC\/GHIC is especially useful for people with a reliance on medical oxygen<\/a> or who have pre-existing conditions (which are sometimes specifically excluded by travel insurers.). So if you’re planning a trip within Europe and have medical needs, your EHIC\/ GHIC could be the most important thing you pack; aside from your passport, of course!<\/span><\/p>\n

What is an EHIC\/ GHIC and Who Can Use Which?<\/b><\/h2>\n

EHIC stands for, very simply, the European Health Insurance Card, and it is a reciprocal agreement between a large group of countries to dramatically minimise costs incurred when accidents happen or illnesses unexpectedly strike. So what does EHIC cover during travel? In short, they provide healthcare for travellers in Europe<\/span><\/p>\n

Post Brexit, which took the UK out of the EU, this has largely been replaced by the GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) which offers the same protections, just with some extra countries included under its umbrella than the original 27 EU member countries (plus Switzerland, Norway and so on).<\/span><\/p>\n

Both cards are free to apply for if you are a UK national, but you should get your form filled in long before you want to travel as the card must be verified before it is processed and sent to you. If you already have an EHIC for medical travel, it remains valid until its expiry date, but any new applications will automatically be processed as GHICs, unless you have an exemption under the withdrawal agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using these cards, whichever you have, can be a godsend, ensuring that travellers are not suddenly expected to find a large sum of money to put towards medical care. In participating countries, healthcare will be provided for a very low sum, if not completely free, at point of use. There is no discrimination between EHIC\/GHIC holders and residents of the country: all necessary care medical needs will be met to the same high and scrupulous standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is ‘Necessary Care’? (And What is Not Covered?)<\/b><\/h2>\n

Necessary care is a hard phrase to define, mainly as the official definition goes as follows: ‘It follows from the definition of the concept of “necessary care” in Article 25 IR that this concept is a flexible one that has to be assessed on a case by case basis.’ So in short, no one can tell you what ‘necessary care’ means unless they are looking at the patient in real time.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the concept includes any treatment that will allow you to safety continue your trip in reasonable comfort, with a good quality of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The judgement will be made by a medical professional, not an insurance broker, so you can be sure that the decision will be made with your health at the forefront of proceedings, rather than the all-consuming dollars as is the case with insurance companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pre-existing conditions that are chronic \u2013 long-term respiratory disease, for example, or poor heart health \u2013 as well as emergency care are included. Emergency care includes broken bones, sudden onset illnesses like flu, norovirus, and the like. Pregnancy, despite sometimes being styled as a ‘self-inflicted injury’, is included in this category, although there is an expectation that you would not travel if you were very close to your due date, so any medical provided should fall under the category of ante-natal care, rather than active birth plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t worry if you also have more serious long-term illnesses, such as kidney disease, cancers or require intensive oxygen therapy treatments: using EHIC or GHIC with chronic illness is one of its intended purposes: you can access your usual dose of chemotherapy, dialysis, and even your usual oxygen cylinders<\/a>, as long as you’ve made a few calls (or sent a few emails) and availability of your needed treatment is confirmed before you travel<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s <\/b>Not<\/i><\/b> Covered<\/b><\/h2>\n

If you’re travelling to get your teeth done in Poland, or to enjoy a cosmetic treatment in Turkey (both popular medical tourism destinations and procedures) the EHIC and GHIC will not cover those costs for you. This is because they are elective operations and because you have travelled specifically to have these operations performed. Private medical treatment is also not covered: you will have to accept whatever the NHS-equivalent’s medical treatment protocols are, while you are on holiday. Bear in mind that many countries in the EU hardly have private medical offers because the standard of care is so high and convenient so this is not really a drawback at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emergency repatriation after any kind of medical treatment is also not included.<\/span><\/p>\n

For any of the above factors, it is strongly recommended that you take out travel insurance to cover the expenses that the GHIC and EHIC do not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using the EHIC\/ GHIC for Pre-Existing Conditions<\/b><\/p>\n

If you have been diagnosed with a medical condition before you apply for travel insurance (including the GHIC), this is what is known as a ‘pre-existing condition’. While many travel insurance policies specifically refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, EHICs\/ GHICs do not. They are designed to ensure that you can continue to receive treatment for your ailment, without needing to pay huge sums to do so. This is reassuring to travellers who require regular medication or portable oxygen \u2013 it means that you can make travel plans without having to set aside huge sums of money simply to be able to afford to survive your holiday or business trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, do make sure that you do your due diligence before you set off:<\/span><\/p>\n