MSE News: Pain for Spain over unlawful EHIC refusals

Print_Screen

Pincher wrote: »

I would LOVE to go private like jamesg123 says, and just claim everything back from the travel insurance, but not if the insurance company tries to weasel out by saying I should have used my EHIC.

We need to make it law that travel insurance must provide REAL ASSISTANCE, and can't just fob you off weeks later by using the EHIC as an excuse. If they want us to use a cheap public hospital, they have to find us one, arrange for the ambulance if necessary, pay for the taxi if it's miles away. And if they can't get one that accepts the EHIC, they must pay out if we go private.

Nail, Head:T

Exactly a lot of insurance policies require us in Europe to use the EHIC to its max extent and they will cover the rest.

Now if given a choice of sign this form in Spanish or get no treatment (and possibly die) and that form gives consent to go private then most people would sign the form.
They would then be in the position that they would have to prove to their insurance company that the form was signed under false pretences or duress. How can they do that?
Short of having eyewitnesses statements notified by a solicitor and/or video footage of the event.
Perhaps we should all wear headcams 24/7 while on holiday?

Either the EHIC applies and we get equal treatment as a citizen of that country would or we scrap it altogether and rely 100% on insurance which adjusts its terms like when we go to the USA where EHIC doesn't apply for example.
Otherwise its a case of prove your innocence to insurance providers and get shafted by health care providers.:(

jamesg123

Pincher wrote: »

I would LOVE to go private like jamesg123 says, and just claim everything back from the travel insurance, but not if the insurance company tries to weasel out by saying I should have used my EHIC.

We need to make it law that travel insurance must provide REAL ASSISTANCE, and can't just fob you off weeks later by using the EHIC as an excuse. If they want us to use a cheap public hospital, they have to find us one, arrange for the ambulance if necessary, pay for the taxi if it's miles away. And if they can't get one that accepts the EHIC, they must pay out if we go private.

Couldn't agree more with this comment, once our guests took the private route and were lying in a bed in a private clinic, the insurance company was billed direct and would always settle directly avoiding any hassles for patient they (the clinic) even booked and arranged return flights if they were hospitalised on the day they were due to return home. Overall a great service I am realistic though and often guests were hospitalised questionably? It was often referred to as the drip clinic as a drip was usually the first thing billed ( dehydration) and it was very difficult to get a certificate to fly if you discharged yourself early, which meant your airline would refuse to fly you home. Welcome to the murky world without NHS. These clinics operate under different names but appear in almost every resort,and are normally the patients first port of call look out for names such as "The English Clinic" or British Doctor in your resort. This is the private route. My personal thoughts are that a very high percentage of tourists use this route and avoid public hospitals in Spain, as most are for small injuries, if you take this out the public care system wouldn't cope with a huge influx of tourists and don't forget the EHIC covers Emergency treatment only. One final note of caution make sure you are not drunk or on drugs when you arrive at a private clinic as you invalidate treatment under small print in your travel insurance!! Mess what mess!!

ranb

:money:You can get a translation card for which ever country your visiting saying you need to be treated at a state facility it comes with adouble clear plastic wallet to hold your EHIC in one side translation card in the other side. get them at EHTC-LTD.co.uk

Pincher wrote: »

What we need is a form in the local language, stating their obligations, so I can shove it in the orderly's face, and demand that they state the reason for refusal, with the hospital's contact details. I will print this form and keep it with the EHIC, naturally.

The old E111 used to come in a booklet that had multiple languages, I seem to remember.

mcfisco

Pincher wrote: »

We need to make it law that travel insurance must provide REAL ASSISTANCE, and can't just fob you off weeks later by using the EHIC as an excuse. If they want us to use a cheap public hospital, they have to find us one, arrange for the ambulance if necessary, pay for the taxi if it's miles away. And if they can't get one that accepts the EHIC, they must pay out if we go private.

I have private health cover here in the UK as part of my salary package.
If I or a family member need treatment, we simply ring up, explain the situation and get an answer there and then regarding whether or not they'll cover it.
You'd have thought a similar system could be used for travel ins. [maybe there is?] I appreciate that sometimes it wouldn't be possible to do this but I bet most times it would

Roger1

ranb wrote: »

:money:You can get a translation card for which ever country your visiting saying you need to be treated at a state facility ...

I had a look. It's one card per country. There are separate cards for 30 countries. Each costs £7.50 so going to more than one will cost a small fortune. Oh, yes. Add £1.99 per order for postage.

One of the cards is for Switzerland, not in the EU or EEA but a country that accepts EHIC cards. There are 4 official languages in Switzerland. I wonder how many are on the 'Swiss' card. If it's 3 (German, French and Italian), that one card could offer a solution to travellers visiting more than one of Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland. Of course, English is widely understood in Switzerland and is almost another official language.

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the 'Swiss' card. Like others, the image is obsured on the website.

I won't be bothering.

ehtcltd

Sorry to hear you were not very impressed with our idea of translation cards to accompany your EHIC
We are a small family run business and the idea came to light when my parents tried to acquire insurance for a 2 week holiday. They love to travel and are enjoying their retirement.
The massive quote they received for a single trip of £1100 made them think twice. Then whilst looking through Martin’s website found EHIC Plus and approached them for a quote and with all their pre-existing conditions it cost them £160.64 for a full year including cruise cover as long as they were treated on their NHS-EHIC.

So this started my dad thinking, after hearing many stories of people been taken to private hospitals when wanting to be treated at a state hospital and in some cases language been a problem.
How could we help to make sure we are taken to the right hospital? Thus EHTC-Ltd a translation card was born: Your travel insurance requires you to be treated on your EHIC.
And the fact that many people speak English anyway is great, but what if you are not lucky enough to get one of those people. When you are feeling unwell or had an accident the last thing you want is the hassle of been understood.

As for the price I think a card for under £10 including p/p, which can be used on every trip as it is a card for life, and also comes with a double clear wallet to keep your translation card and NHS-EHIC card together, is not expensive when potentially it could save you a lot of money in excess charges.

As far as Countries with multi lingual languages we have after extensive research gone with the language widely spoken. If this is a problem we will address this with our customers requirements prior to a purchase.

Roger1

ehtcltd wrote: »

As far as Countries with multi lingual languages we have after extensive research gone with the language widely spoken.

After less than extensive research, I can report that Switzerland's four official languages are spoken in Switzerland.

The images of the cards are obscured on the website so I cannot tell which language/s is/are featured on the Swiss card. How many of the four official languages are on the Swiss card? Or do you recommend somebody touring in Switzerland to take four cards (though I bet you haven't got the 4th)? Assuming one language per card, even three cards would cost £24.49.

ehtcltd

Thank you for your reply and your concern about the cost to our customers whilst travelling Switzerland.
We are very aware of all 4 Languages of Switzerland. But with only 0.9% of the population speaking Romansh, we feel because of the sector our cards will be used in, the 3 languages provided would be sufficient.
Our translation card covers the first language and the other two are covered with a supplement that fits into the clear double wallet provided at no extra cost to our customer.
As for the cards being obscured on the website this is for copyright purposes only.