Using Eu Passport For Medical Treatment

[DeniseT]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

 

[SabsP]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

I will be looking forward to the answers.
I only know, being an European resident myself, that I nee the EHIC health card as proof when going to a Spanish ( poly ) clinic.
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=559

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Being a citizen does not give you free medical care, it only lets you in the country and allows you to work. To have access to services you need to be a resident, in other words pay taxes.

 

[jsalt]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

Hi, see this link:
https://www.gov.uk/european-health-insurance-card

You’ll need to provide your:

• full name
• address
• date of birth
• National Insurance or NHS number (England and Wales)
• CHI number (Scotland)
• Health and Care number (Northern Ireland)

EHIC doesn’t replace travel insurance.

You’ll have to apply by post and show proof of residency if you’re not from the UK, EEA or Switzerland.

 

[timr]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

I think you are a little optimistic to think you will get free treatment because of a UK passport (even before Brexit). But I think medical provision on the odd occasion I have needed it in Spain is excellent. (I am a physician.) Pharmacies generally very helpful and friendly and I am inclined to think (anecdotally) more likely than the general public to have English. I saw a chiropodist once for emergency treatment and also a GP in a health centre. Both were excellent and welcoming, and minimal waiting time. Neither was in a large city.
EHIC does give EU residents 'free' treatment. There was a (truly) nominal charge for a prescription once. I didn't get the impression ever that paying up front was essential for emergency treatment. Quite different from the situation in some other large land masses.
Worth having travel insurance in addition I would say.
Buen camino and stay well!

 

[NualaOC]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

Hi Denise, if you need medical treatment in Spain you will have no difficulty accessing it. And as others have said, it's very good.

Unfortunately, your British passport does not entitle you to receive this treatment for free or at a reduced cost. The special arrangements in Europe are for holders of the EHIC card (as per @jsalt 's advice above). This card gives residents of European Economic Area states the same rights as citizens of the country they are visiting. This may mean free treatment, or paying the same charge that applies to local people. However, since you are no longer a UK resident, you won't be entitled to this benefit.

Travel insurance is therefore your best bet - which you should probably buy anyway, to cover things like cancellation/curtailment, repatriation, loss of baggage etc.

Buen Camino!

 

[notion900]

Hi all,
I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.

I don't see why it would be difficult. Some travel insurance has the facility to pay direct to hospitals, others you have to pay yourself and claim back (I try to use the former, eg STA). Nowhere you will be travelling is really 'remote', in the sense that you are probably never more than an hour by road from a decent hospital.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Hi, see this link:
https://www.gov.uk/european-health-insurance-card

You’ll need to provide your:

• full name
• address
• date of birth
• National Insurance or NHS number (England and Wales)
• CHI number (Scotland)
• Health and Care number (Northern Ireland)

EHIC doesn’t replace travel insurance.

You’ll have to apply by post and show proof of residency if you’re not from the UK, EEA or Switzerland.

He is an Australian resident. None of this will apply to her.

 

[jsalt]

He is an Australian resident. None of this will apply to her.

Yes, that was what I was trying to get across

 

[Shakespearshakes]

Your Passport bears no relevance to eventual medical treatment. People living within the EU carry a health insurance card that will cover such treatment within the EU borders. As you are an Australian resident you will need to ensure that you have sufficient travel insurance to cover eventual medical costs.

 

[Pete Dunn]

Hi Denise, I needed hospital treatment at Gernika near Bilbao for horrendous blisters (!) and they wouldn't look at me until they had sight of my EHIC document, not my passport, although they did take a copy of that as well for their records.

For peace of mind invest it travel insurance, I met people who really need it including a German girl whose leg was so badly injured she needed repatriating. Without it, she'd have been in real trouble.

Buen Camino!
Pete

 

[dougfitz]

As you are an Australian resident you will need to ensure that you have sufficient travel insurance to cover eventual medical costs.

And enough funds to cover any treatment that is less than the excess on whatever cover you choose.

 

[FLEUR]

Good advice from everyone.
I am British, U.K. resident. On the CF I sought help from a podiatrist in Viana. I knocked on her door and she gave me an SOS appointment for 30mins later. I think her excellent treatment cost around 26€.
In France last year I went to hospital and was admitted overnight via their accident / emergency dept. They asked for my EHIC card which I had. No charge for any of that until a month or so later when they billed me for 230€ (partial cost). I paid but was able to claim most of that from the NHS.

EHIC card covers a lot of emergency treatment within Europe but will not cover repatriation should that be necessary. Travel insurance is a must.

After Brexit goodness know whether we will get the same benefits.

 

[DeniseT]

Fabulous Thankyou, I was expecting those answers, it was something I thought I might ask cause of information I recently received which sounded little weird.
Had an exceptionally bad experience in Thailand once , we went to remote island for the day and taking personnel stuff was a big no and this was requested. To, as we spent the day in water or canoes.
Anyway daughter got real sick and took her to local hospital and even though we had travel insurance and they rang hospital and told to treat her, they refused cause didn't have any documents on me, they told us to leave (so quiet in there which was very weird)
She was so sick and bad way, very upset mum and very angry at the end. So we took a cab back to apartment rang another hospital and they sent an ambulance, which were very good and very quick.

 

[Margaret Butterworth]

A couple of years ago I met a guy on the CF who had a severe gastro attack and was dehydrated. At the next town he went to a clinic where they treated him for free and also provided a phone hook-up with instructions translated into English. He was also told that treatment for Camino-related problems was a free service provided by the Spanish Government for pilgrims. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

He was also told that treatment for Camino-related problems was a free service provided by the Spanish Government for pilgrims. Can anyone confirm this?

What I've picked up from this forum is that no medical service is free. Except sometimes billing for the treatment isn't worth the time for the doctor or clinic and you get away with not having to pay. Don't count on that happening to you. Peg had to get treated at a clinic twice. The first time we thought that while we would have to pay for hospitalization treatment at clinics was free. No it isn't. The second time we gave the clinic the address of our travel insurance provider. We ended up getting billed at home for both visits. The bill was from the health service of Castile and Leon, not Spain. They would not take payment by credit card and there were horrendous complications with bank transfers due to American government regulations intended to fight money laundering and terrorism support. Also, while I believe bank transfers are free or nearly so in the EU our bank wanted $40 and even going through setting up an account with Western Union to pay though their website it would be a $10 charge. My advice is to pay right at the clinic before leaving. The charges were reasonable.

 

[HeidiL]

With the blue European Health Insurance card, my son and I had free treatment at the municipal medical centre in Santo Domingo de la Calzada because of the reciprocal agreement between Norway and Spain. Your agreement may vary, and there are, of course, private facilities, which are not covered by any agreements.

Get travel insurance. And, if you are entitled to it, a blue card.

 

[kerdi]

Being a citizen does not give you free medical care, it only lets you in the country and allows you to work. To have access to services you need to be a resident, in other words pay taxes.

Working in the Health care sector and have walked in Spain I am happy to confirm that the EHIC card enables you to receive free health care for emergencies within Europe.
If you don't have an EHIC card (Which in the UK is provides by the local NHS agencies, e.g care commissioning group office) you might need a passport to prove that you are European Citizen.
Emergency care will be provided for all by all health centers, hospitals.
For European Citizens the health service can reimburse the costs later from the health service in the European home country. For non european citizens things might be more difficult, therefore a travel insurance is highly recommended (If you have a Credit Card you might have already a Travel Insurance. Ask the provider company what is covered by their travel insurance and what the terms are: e.g. paid part of the trip, flight with credit card).
If not insured and not European Citizen/Resident, the health care provider could send an Invoice to the patient.
For anything beyond you should have your travel insurance (e.g. repatriation flights)

 

[peregrina2000]

A couple of years ago I met a guy on the CF who had a severe gastro attack and was dehydrated. At the next town he went to a clinic where they treated him for free and also provided a phone hook-up with instructions translated into English. He was also told that treatment for Camino-related problems was a free service provided by the Spanish Government for pilgrims. Can anyone confirm this?

A few years ago, I got a tick in my back while walking the Vadiniense, and I was in the small town of La Robla. I was encouraged to go to the local health care center. I explained to the doctor that I was from the US and would pay up front for the care, but she gave me a (tongue in cheek) lecture, starting with -- do I look like a cashier to you? She was happy to treat me and send me on my way, but not after giving me another few earfuls about my own country's health care system.

I think that the difference in people's experience may be explained by the fact that the medical clinics in small towns (which operate kind of like what we in the US would call "convenient care" facilities) are intended to provide for the residents who don't have easy or regular access to big clinics. These places don't (or didn't, but that may be changing) have any way to issue bills or collect cash. So if that's where you are when you need treatment, you will probably still get it without charge. That is not the case in the big cities, in hospitals, in big clinics, etc.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[notion900]

Be careful filling in forms. Spanish forms assume you have two surnames. Do not put your 'middle' given name in one of the surname boxes, that is wrong and could cause confusion.

 

[kerdi]

[QUOTE: "After Brexit goodness know whether we will get the same benefits"]
The EHIC card, or better the reciprocal agreements predate the European Union membership of the UK and I would expect that our Governments will keep them in one shape or another.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Working in the Health care sector and have walked in Spain I am happy to confirm that the EHIC card enables you to receive free health care for emergencies within Europe.
If you don't have an EHIC card (Which in the UK is provides by the local NHS agencies, e.g care commissioning group office) you might need a passport to prove that you are European Citizen.
)

Again, the OP is NOT a UK citizen, just a passport holder. Would not be getting a health card from the Uk.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Again, the OP is NOT a UK citizen, just a passport holder. Would not be getting a health card from the Uk.

I think that she is still a UK citizen (by birth), but not a UK resident. In this case it is the residency that matters, but the comments are good for others who are following the thread

 

[Glenn Rowe]

Be careful filling in forms. Spanish forms assume you have two surnames. Do not put your 'middle' given name in one of the surname boxes, that is wrong and could cause confusion.

"Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon!" -- Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters

(I've gotten SO MUCH mileage from that one quote!)

 

[Pilgrim Patricia]

Hi all,
I am an auzzie resident now, born In UK .
But heard recently I could use my British passport to get medical treatment in Spain God forbid if I need it.
Yes I have travel insurance but this can be a slow painful process if in remote towns.
Anyone know of this..
Cheers

I am a Canadian, and just got back from Spain on April 5th. I had to go to the emergency department at a hospital in Caceres, on the VdlP, because I had a nasty throat or upper respiratory infection. I got very prompt care (about an hour and a half from start to finish) and walked away with a prescription for antibiotics. The hospital took photocopies of my passport and my medical travel insurance wallet card. They gave me a form called "Paciente Extranjero o Comunitario sin Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea/Foreign patient or patient community without a European Health Insurance Card" which stated that they require information from my health insurance company within 10 days, or I will be invoiced. No request at all for payment on-site. NOTE: I originally went to a clinic in Canaveral, where I had stayed the night before, but no one there spoke English or showed any interest in helping me, so on the advice of a local person I took a taxi to Caceres. The lack of interest in Canaveral surprised me because I've always found local people along the camino extremely caring and helpful. So to agree with many others, make sure you have your own medical travel insurance, and carry your wallet card with you at all times.

 

[Jim Kavanagh]

Just a word to the wise: some travel insurance companies require that you have the EHIC and use that and use their insurance for anything extra not covered by the EHIC e.g. repatriation.

 

[Glenn Rowe]

So to agree with many others, make sure you have your own medical travel insurance, and carry your wallet card with you at all times.

I had to go to hospital twice; once in Ireland (3 days) and once in Spain (5 days). We always used the three magic words: "We will pay."

We put it on our credit card, gathered/saved all the receipts, and got our US health insurance to reimburse us. They were very happy to, btw, at least partly because the expenses were so small compared to what they would have had to pay in the US.

We carry travel insurance for the other stuff, and so we can access them for assistance if we need to find medical services quickly.