Claiming on EHIC?

BobMar

I have had to have some dental treatment while in France. Is it possible to claim for this expense using my EHIC, European Health Insurance Card?

Thanks in anticipation,

Bob

Two4Tuesday

Did you not show it at the time of treatment?

If so, part of the cost might be billed by the practise directly to the EHIC authorities, but you may have to pay some of it yourself.

I had an ambulance and overnight hospital stay in Brussels in 2008 and I showed my EHIC at the time. I was billed several months later for about 90 euros. The breakdown on the bill showed that a lot more was claimed directly.

zagfles

Yes I think you need to have showed the EHIC at the time of treatment. Sometimes you have to pay some of the cost yourself, just like you would with an NHS dentist, you can't reclaim this.

See http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

epitome

Tricky one, my own opinion would be...but phoning EHIC would be best.....

Not if the treatment was non urgent, and not if it was knowingly existing before travel.

If you satisfy the above you would have had to go to a state funded dentist, who should have charged you upon showing them the card, what the normal rate would be for a French resident.

Then you get into the area of what you would have paid at a UK NHS dentist

Not sure what happens if you didn't show them the card or you did show them but they didn't care and charged you full rate.

Probably best to ask EHIC.
And I believe that you have a very long time to reclaim costs, well over a year AFAICR.

FBaby

Only if it was urgent treatment and at a state hospital, not a private dentist. You can claim retrospectively by sending the bill to Newcastle, but they will deduct what you would have paid if you were a french citizen, which I think means they will reimburse about 70%

Dunroamin

The EHIC covers far more than the old E111, including regular treatment, not just for emergencies.

You should have offered it at the time of treatment and should expect to be reimbursed rather less than the 70% you'd get for normal medical treatment as the French themselves have to pay a far higher percentage than this for dentistry.

BobMar

Thank you to all who have responded here. Since the treatment is ongoing, I will proffer my EHIC at my next appointment and see where that leads me. Then, perhaps, I should make a call to Newcastle?
Cheers, Bob.

Dunroamin

BobMar wrote: »

Thank you to all who have responded here. Since the treatment is ongoing, I will proffer my EHIC at my next appointment and see where that leads me. Then, perhaps, I should make a call to Newcastle?
Cheers, Bob.

How long are you staying in France for?

FBaby

Dunroamin wrote: »

The EHIC covers far more than the old E111, including regular treatment, not just for emergencies.

This is incorrect, it is only for emergency treatment. Emergency doesn't forceably mean A&E, it could mean that you need an operation before going home but you can't use the EHIC for ongoing planned treatment. For this, you would need to apply to your PCT for a S2 form or apply for reimbursement under the article 56. For treatment under the S2, you would need to apply before getting the treatment (a clinician would need to do it on your behalf) and it would need to take place at a state funded hospital/clinic. In that case, you would pay nothing, the clinic would charge the NHS directly.

If you go for non urgent treatment and want to claim for reimbursement, you need to claim under Article 56. You will need to show evidence that you would have been elligible for this treatment under the NHS. You will then be reimbursed at the cost of the equivalent NHS treatment (the full treatment if cheaper, up to the cost of the NHS treatment of more expensive).

Dunroamin

FBaby wrote: »

This is incorrect, it is only for emergency treatment. Emergency doesn't forceably mean A&E, it could mean that you need an operation before going home but you can't use the EHIC for ongoing planned treatment. For this, you would need to apply to your PCT for a S2 form or apply for reimbursement under the article 56. For treatment under the S2, you would need to apply before getting the treatment (a clinician would need to do it on your behalf) and it would need to take place at a state funded hospital/clinic. In that case, you would pay nothing, the clinic would charge the NHS directly.

If you go for non urgent treatment and want to claim for reimbursement, you need to claim under Article 56. You will need to show evidence that you would have been elligible for this treatment under the NHS. You will then be reimbursed at the cost of the equivalent NHS treatment (the full treatment if cheaper, up to the cost of the NHS treatment of more expensive).

I'm afraid that you're confusing two different things.

There is a difference between planned treatment and normal treatment - planned treatment is a case of going abroad in order to have some specific treatment whereas normal treatment would be for some ongoing treatment.

As an example, when we're in France or Spain for a few weeks, my husband can see a local doctor and get a prescription for his normal medications and claim that on his EHIC - he can even get oxygen this way.

To quote the NHS on the subject,

"Your EHIC lets you get state healthcare at a reduced cost or sometimes for free. It will cover you for treatment that is needed to allow you to continue your stay until your planned return. It also covers you for treatment of pre-existing medical conditions and for routine maternity care, as long as you're not going abroad to give birth."

The old E111 used to only cover you for emergency treatment but, as I said earlier, the EHIC cover is far wider than this.

FBaby

Dunroamin wrote: »

I'm afraid that you're confusing two different things.

There is a difference between planned treatment and normal treatment - planned treatment is a case of going abroad in order to have some specific treatment whereas normal treatment would be for some ongoing treatment.

As an example, when we're in France or Spain for a few weeks, my husband can see a local doctor and get a prescription for his normal medications and claim that on his EHIC - he can even get oxygen this way.

To quote the NHS on the subject,

"Your EHIC lets you get state healthcare at a reduced cost or sometimes for free. It will cover you for treatment that is needed to allow you to continue your stay until your planned return. It also covers you for treatment of pre-existing medical conditions and for routine maternity care, as long as you're not going abroad to give birth."

The old E111 used to only cover you for emergency treatment but, as I said earlier, the EHIC cover is far wider than this.

All the above would be considered urgent treatment, as in if you didn't receive it, your health would be put at risk. You can't however go to Spain and decide to have your cataracts done whilst your there under the EHIC as this would be considered planned. In any case, it is not straight forward. We had to argue with hospitals in Germany and Spain which refused to treat patients under the EHIC because they considered their treatment non urgent, meaning that the patient could come back to England to receive it (in both cases cancer treatments).