EHIC allows you to get medically necessary, state-provided treatment when you are temporarily staying in the EU or EEA on the same conditions and at the same cost as people insured in the country that you are visiting.
If locals receive medical treatment for free, you will also get treated for free by showing your EHIC.
If locals pay the treatment cost upfront and then receive reimbursement, you will also have to pay upfront but will later receive reimbursement (and if locals are not reimbursed for a certain co-payment, that co-payment will not be reimbursed to you either).
The place where you can apply for the reimbursement depends on 1) whether you had your EHIC with you when you needed treatment and 2) whether your EHIC was accepted by the healthcare provider:
→ I had my EHIC with me and it was accepted:
If you had your EHIC and it was accepted by the healthcare provider, you would normally be expected to file the reimbursement claim in the country where you got the treatment.
Alternatively, you can file the reimbursement claim in the country where you are insured (and which thus issued your EHIC) upon your return.
You will be reimbursed according to the reimbursement rates of the country where you received the treatment.
→ I did not have my EHIC with me or it did not get accepted:
If you did not have your EHIC with you or it did not get accepted for some reason, and you thus had to pay the full cost of treatment yourself, then you will need to apply for the reimbursement in the country where you are insured (and which thus issued your EHIC) upon your return.
You will have a choice as to the reimbursement rate:
- Reimbursement according to the legislation and the rates of the country where you got the treatment. In that case, the country where you are insured will send an information request as to the reimbursement amount to the country where you got the treatment. Beware that this process can be quite lengthy.
- Reimbursement according to the legislation and the rates of the country where you are insured. The benefit of this mode of reimbursement is that you will likely receive your reimbursement faster. However, there are two important aspects to bear in mind:
(i) you will be reimbursed only for the treatments to which you are entitled in the country where you are insured; and
(ii) you will be reimbursed only up to the cost of treatment in the country where you are insured – which may be less than what you actually paid for the treatment.
Example – Alberto and Francesco:
Alberto and Francesco are covered by Italian healthcare. When traveling in the Netherlands, they get into an accident and require surgery.
Alberto has his EHIC with him, and he applies for the reimbursement while he is still in the Netherlands – he will be reimbursed according to the Dutch reimbursement rate.
Francesco’s EHIC did not get accepted, so he will apply for the reimbursement when he returns to Italy. Francesco has an option to apply for reimbursement according to either Dutch or Italian rate.
Francesco decides to apply for the reimbursement according to Dutch rate since it is higher than the Italian one – though Francesco might need to wait a couple of months for the Italian authorities to make an information request to the Dutch authorities as to the reimbursement amount.
