The standardised European health insurance card, launched last year, has quickly established itself as an essential item for people travelling to, or working temporarily in, countries in the European Union other than their own. The card, which entitles the visitor to urgent medical treatment as if they were insured in the host country, is now carried by 30 million EU citizens.
The United Kingdom will start issuing the card, which is valid for five years, to residents in September. This will replace the E111 form, the traditional certificate for non-private health insurance when abroad. Thirteen of the EU’s member states introduced the card immediately, and by the end of the year all 25 EU countries, as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, will be offering it to their citizens and accepting its use.
Figures released by the European Commission last week show that the highest number of cards have been issued in Italy (13 million), followed by the Czech Republic (seven million), Germany (3.5 million), and Belgium (1.3 million). The Czech Republic has even recognised it as a national card and given one to every insured person.
The handy piece of plastic seems to be more popular than the existing paper format. In Sweden, for instance, there has been a 300% increase in the numbers carrying the card compared to those who had carried the E111. More than 1.6m people carry the card, compared to 500,000 who had the E111 form.
To ensure that it is easily recognisable by doctors, health centres, and hospitals, the card has a standardised design on one side containing a certain amount of compulsory information that can be read whatever the holder’s language.
The data have been rationalised and are simpler than those on the E111 form. For instance, only the code of the insured’s health insurance institution is indicated rather than the full name. Details of all the codes are contained in a database that is accessible on the internet. Member states are free to choose their own design on the other side of the card.
Medical professionals must treat visiting card holders as if they were insured in the host country but are not required to offer non-urgent treatment that can wait until the patient returns home.
Because the aim of the card is to facilitate access to medical care when a citizen is abroad and to speed up the reimbursement of any costs involved, the information it contains relates to such matters as the holder’s insurance institution rather than to medical history. It does not contain the person’s blood group or list their previous illnesses, for example.
The card will replace the forms E111 and E111B (for tourists), E110 (for international hauliers), E128 (for students and people working outside their own member state), and E119 (for registered unemployed people looking for work in another EU country).
The procedure for applying for the card is the same as for the E111 form.