Would you travel to Europe without medical insurance?

Bogtrotter

zagfles wrote: »

Wouldn't have thought it'd be that much, plus you might be able to get a refund anyway according to the EHIC website.

An aquaintance had no travel insurance in France last year. They collapsed (reason unknown) and ambulance took him to hospital where he was admitted for 3 days for blood tests and investigations. Total cost to him around €550 which he is still trying to recoup from the NHS over 12 months later.

hartcjhart

zagfles wrote: »

Er, !!!!!! has that got to do with EHIC/state treatment being refused because of a pre-existing condition? The state didn't refuse to treat her because she had a pre-existing medical condition, they refused because Greece is in a mess and has difficulty providing ANY state service. And even her travel insurance proved useless, so what does that say?

If the OP was going to Greece then they should be very wary. Regardless of insurance or not.

Er treatment was refused under the EHIC scheme, then the insurance refused to payout because of PEMC

and it is not only Greece,any of the EU countries that are deep do do are a cause for concern,dare I say even a risk in Spain depending on the 'local' interpretation

hartcjhart

zagfles wrote: »

I've used the EHIC in Sweden and Spain and didn't have to pay a penny, except for a presciption in Spain and that was only about EUR3 (cheaper than here). A friend of mine's Dad had a heart attack in Sweden and they only had to pay a token amount for a 2-week hospital stay, which they claimed back on their travel insurance, but it was almost not worth bothering about after the excess.

AFAIK Sweden are not in the poo yet

zagfles

hartcjhart wrote: »

Er treatment was refused under the EHIC scheme, then the insurance refused to payout because of PEMC

and it is not only Greece,any of the EU countries that are deep do do are a cause for concern,dare I say even a risk in Spain depending on the 'local' interpretation

So just to be clear. It wasn't the PEMC which was the issue getting state treatment. The PEMC cause problems with the travel insurance.

zagfles

Bogtrotter wrote: »

An aquaintance had no travel insurance in France last year. They collapsed (reason unknown) and ambulance took him to hospital where he was admitted for 3 days for blood tests and investigations. Total cost to him around €550 which he is still trying to recoup from the NHS over 12 months later.

I was replying to the PP who claimed "The only country that seems to give like for like treatment is Portugal".

I got better and cheaper treatment in Sweden and Spain than I would have in the UK. But yes, the OP needs to consider such things. The information is on the EHIC website.

As examples in this thread have shown, even having medical insurance doesn't guarantee you won't end with a massive bill. Personally, I have medical insurance through work which is much better than the medical cover provided by the vast majority of travel insurance, because there is no exclusion for PEMCs and there are no nasty exclusions like not covering you while under the influence of alcohol (how many people never have a drink while on holiday)?

But in the OPs position, if it proved impossible to get insurance, I wouldn't let that stop me having a holiday. There's far worse risks you face than a financial loss, the plane might crash, the ferry might sink, you might die horribly in a car crash. If you live life risk free it'd be very boring

zagfles

hartcjhart wrote: »

AFAIK Sweden are not in the poo yet

So the moral is - don't go to countries which are in the poo. Insurance or no insurance.

duchy

I sort of agree with this -with the provisio the OP is clear what kind of risk she is taking -and she knows now and can decide accordingly as only she knows her attitude to risk and financial situation.

hartcjhart

zagfles wrote: »

So just to be clear. It wasn't the PEMC which was the issue getting state treatment. The PEMC cause problems with the travel insurance.

Thats right,the op had to be paid for privately because of the situation in Greece,they would not do it under the EHIC scheme although technically they should have done,
they paid thinking the insurance would re-imburse but that was refused under PEMC,
However my point is that it is chancy relying on the EHIC system in some countries at the moment.

Spain are really struggling and have just recently raised the cost of prescriptions to all nationalities,and I would not be surprised if they started to wriggle out of the EHIC agreements or drastically cutting down what they will do,

I agree what you say about plane crashing etc,but people should be aware of the current situation

hartcjhart

zagfles wrote: »

So the moral is - don't go to countries which are in the poo. Insurance or no insurance.

no the moral is, dont rely on the EHIC alone,but if you cannot get insurance decide if it is worth the risk,country by country

tyllwyd

Thank everyone - it is a great help to hear some other points of view to try to get things straight in my head.

I think maybe I was too quick to assume he couldnt get any insurance - I'm going to have a look at more specialised insurers to see if we can get cover for a car accident etc even if we have to exclude cover for his ongoing condition.