- Time of past OR future Camino
- To Santiago + back
2400 km + 950 nmi
160 days
I quoted the article merely as an example for the view from "the other side" and not from the individual traveller's side. The whole system of repayment of health care costs is complicated - payments between the various health insurance systems of the Spanish regions within Spain, payments between various health insurance systems of the EU countries and so on. We've never had anyone here who actually has insight from Spanish hospitals themselves and their policy (if any) on how they bill foreign tourists. There are, apparently, huge unpaid sums for one reason or another.I may be misunderstanding but with regard to UK folks not paying bills, we are part of the EHIC/GHIC scheme so get free healthcare! Also doesn’t the last few lines imply UK is still in EU! Sorry if misunderstanding!
PS: We all know how the EHIC system is supposed to work on the individual level. We know little about how it works on the macro level. Another recent article in English says that: the United Kingdom tops the list of bad [health care bill of foreign tourists] debts by nationality, followed by Germany, France, and Italy. The non-EU destinations with the highest number of non-paying tourists are the USA and Argentina. Brexit does not matter because as far as I understand it the UK opted to somehow stay or become a member of the system (GHIC card). Main point, however: somebody else has to pay for your medical care in Spain if it is not you or your insurance.
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