Free EHIC Discussion

gfplux

You should go back to the hospital and sort this out. In addition you should have a copy of your scan on a disc to keep for reference in the future.
Where I live when you go for a scan or X-ray they give you either a hard copy of the X-ray or on a DVD disc. In addition they email the results to your Doctor.
However I am in the Luxembourg social security system but that is the standard of service you should expect from all Northern European Hospitals. I can't speak for the UK.
I hope you are making a full recovery.

purplestar133

I have just renewed my EHIC using this link: https://www.nhs.uk/healthcareabroad which took me to the NHS Choices website.

Now I've had a confirmation email from ehics0509@ehic.org.uk which seems such an odd email address. Is this legitimate?

I know full well that there are fake sites for EHICs and followed the link on a letter my partner received when he renewed his.

Purplebutterfly_2

purplestar133 wrote: »

I have just renewed my EHIC using this link: www.nhs.uk/healthcareabroad which took me to the NHS Choices website.

Now I've had a confirmation email from [EMAIL="ehics0509@ehic.org.uk"]ehics0509@ehic.org.uk[/EMAIL] which seems such an odd email address. Is this legitimate?

I know full well that there are fake sites for EHICs and followed the link on a letter my partner received when he renewed his.

That's the email address I received my confirmation from earlier this year, our cards arrived after a few days.

zagfles

ehic.org.uk diverts to the nhs website so it looks legitimate. There's rules about "cybersquatting" so it could be that some shyster company previously had that domain but it looks OK now. As long as no-one asks you for payment details you're OK, the EHIC is free.

purplestar133

Purplebutterfly wrote: »

That's the email address I received my confirmation from earlier this year, our cards arrived after a few days.

zagfles wrote: »

ehic.org.uk diverts to the nhs website so it looks legitimate. There's rules about "cybersquatting" so it could be that some shyster company previously had that domain but it looks OK now. As long as no-one asks you for payment details you're OK, the EHIC is free.

Thanks. I looked up an old email I had from when I applied years ago and it was the same address. I think they should make that clearer when they're battling against all the shyster sites!

tomtontom

ehic.org.uk has been owned by the NHS BSA since 2005 - it is and always has been legitimate.

mafield

I have not been 'caught out' by the shyster renewal sites, thank goodness, but the biggest con when needing to see a doctor/GP while abroad, are via the hotel you are staying in.
I had to see a doctor while in Tenerife, and the hotel has a doctor visit on a regular basis, a few times a week. Ask the hotel about a doctor, and they make you an appointment with their 'resident' doctor. However, there is no mention that he is seeing you as a private patient, and you assume that, through the NHS reciprocal procedures, and with a receipt for his services, you can claim the cost back.
Not So - if they only practice privately, your claim will be thrown out, and you will get NO refund whatsoever, not even for any medications he provides or subscribes.

Pollycat

mafield wrote: »

I have not been 'caught out' by the shyster renewal sites, thank goodness, but the biggest con when needing to see a doctor/GP while abroad, are via the hotel you are staying in.
I had to see a doctor while in Tenerife, and the hotel has a doctor visit on a regular basis, a few times a week. Ask the hotel about a doctor, and they make you an appointment with their 'resident' doctor. However, there is no mention that he is seeing you as a private patient, and you assume that, through the NHS reciprocal procedures, and with a receipt for his services, you can claim the cost back.
Not So - if they only practice privately, your claim will be thrown out, and you will get NO refund whatsoever, not even for any medications he provides or subscribes.

Why would the hotel mention that you are seeing the doctor as a private patient?
You asked them for a doctor, they arranged it.

You made the error by assuming instead of checking.

It states on the NHS website that

The card gives access to reduced-cost or free medical treatment from state healthcare providers.

zagfles

mafield wrote: »

I have not been 'caught out' by the shyster renewal sites, thank goodness, but the biggest con when needing to see a doctor/GP while abroad, are via the hotel you are staying in.
I had to see a doctor while in Tenerife, and the hotel has a doctor visit on a regular basis, a few times a week. Ask the hotel about a doctor, and they make you an appointment with their 'resident' doctor. However, there is no mention that he is seeing you as a private patient, and you assume that, through the NHS reciprocal procedures, and with a receipt for his services, you can claim the cost back.
Not So - if they only practice privately, your claim will be thrown out, and you will get NO refund whatsoever, not even for any medications he provides or subscribes.

Yup - this is very common and something to watch out for. Of course you're not usually in the best frame of mind to think of such things when you need urgent medical assistance!

cheesy*wotsit

I would beg anyone that is wondering whether to bother with an EHIC card to get one ... and also make sure you top it up with travel insurance.

I flew out to Galway, Ireland last month (May 2015) and within two days ended up in hospital - luckily covered by the EHIC. However, my condition took us past our fly home date. We rang the insurance (Allianz, thank you so much) and was advised that I was allowed a companion (my husband) as they viewed it as beneficial to my recovery. They also advised that they would cover his hotel and reasonable food costs whilst I was being treated.

They asked us to call them once I had been discharged and they would repatriate us home. We did this and they arranged for a taxi from Galway to Shannon Airport (the only available flight home - which they covered) which would have cost €146 - there was no way we could have afforded that. They also covered a taxi from our home airport to our house.

They were our first (and hopefully last!) experience of travel insurance and have been amazing - and if it wasn't for MSE, we would have been stranded as we did not know about EHIC so thanks so much to you too!