EU. In or out?

[daveuprite]

Let's bring the brexit mess down to earth for a moment, and address something of immediate relevance to ABR folk.

When the UK leaves the EU (either in 62 days or on the 31st December 2020) then the EHIC card immediately becomes invalid for UK holders. Deceased. Bereft of life. Pushing up the daisies and shuffled off its mortal coil etc...

Having chosen to leave an excellent, comprehensive multi-national system of free reciprocal health cover, the UK will have to forge individual health deals with each and every one of the 27 remaining EU states. Obviously this will take years and may not ever be achieved. Would you trust the current government to get it done quickly, efficiently and providing the same service as we get now? No, I thought not.

So as things stand right now, those travelling to the EU27 in 63 days time will not be entitled to any health cover at all unless they pay for their own private health insurance. Has anyone investigated what that costs these days, whether it covers injuries from motorcycle accidents, and what they will do if they have a pre-existing health condition which is excluded by private-sector insurers ?

By the way, the current cost of an uninsured overnight stay in a French hospital (not including ANY actual treatment) is 1100 Euros per night - yes that's just for the room, not for doctors' time, drugs, operations and all the rest. If your private sector insurer excludes your pre-existing heart condition and you go on to have a heart attack at the top of the Eifell Tower, then the 2 weeks you are likely to spend in intensive care and recuperation, and the emergency heart bypass you are given, will probably amount to €25k or so... ALL of which under EHIC would have been reimbursed to the French health service by the NHS on your behalf.

[DavidS]

I have always had annual travel insurance.
As far as I know, the EHIC card only gets you basic treatment as described It won’t get you repatriation, extra services etc.
Going to Europe with just the card is seriously risky and I think is made clearcwhen you get the card.
Do you think visitors here would get taken back home for free? We can’t even get ambulances for ourselves.

My insurance automatically covered me in India for injury while riding the Enfield.
Simple European cover is pretty cheap, either as single trip or annual.

The full worldwide cover this year for my wife and I, including North America, is £400 but that is full travel insurance including cancellation, bags, illness etc etc. Peanuts compared to the holiday cost or the repatriation on a private plane. It was only £240 for our 6 week trip to NZ last year.

[Brenhden]

You are right about the card not working day but the UK will only have to make one deal with the EU for reciprical cover. I've always had private cover anyway and (more importantly) extra cover to get my bike home. It's not cheap for either but trail riding solo it feels like the right thing to do.

[daveuprite]

As far as I know, the EHIC card only gets you basic treatment as described It won’t get you repatriation, extra services etc.

Yes that's right. I never mentioned repatriation. But what you are calling 'basic treatment', when it's administered by one of the best health systems in the world (I'm talking France here), costs a lot of money if it's not covered by EHIC.

As I said the basic overnight tariff for a french hospital stay is 1100 Euros per night.

[Scott_rider]

I get annual Worldwide Travel Insurance with my bank account with emergency medical cover up to £10 million....yes, £10 million....for £27 a month. Plus a few other things as well. That seems quite good value to me . Of course, I've no idea if I'd have to pay first ...which would be a problem... ...and claim it back on the Insurance or whether the Insurance company just takes over the costs like the EHIC card does? .

[daveuprite]

You are right about the card not working day but the UK will only have to make one deal with the EU for reciprical cover. I've always had private cover anyway and (more importantly) extra cover to get my bike home. It's not cheap for either but trail riding solo it feels like the right thing to do.

Sorry Bren - I think you are wrong about a future deal to re-instate an arrangement similar to EHIC. When it leaves, the UK will become a third country, no different to South Sudan or Bangladesh etc. So it will have to make a health deal with every single one of the 27 individually one by one if it wishes to replicate what it has now with EHIC. At some point the EU might negotiate a 27-wide deal with the UK - who knows? - but it's not on the cards right now.

I also have some private health insurance with Allianz for when I go trailing up in the Pyrennees, but it's full of exclusions, and I know that a friend of mine has all treatment associated with diabetes specifically excluded due to his history of Type 2.

Why would one choose to move from a free comprehensive international tried-and-tested system to an individual survival-of-the-fittest system that could bankrupt somebody if the worst happens?

[Pint Master]

When I ve been on Trail riding holidays in Spain Ive always had to have insurance, went to Portugal with BMW ORS last year and insurance was compulsory ,you'd be a brave man to go skiing in the alps without medical covers mate of mine was in Poland last year with his Polish wife and their very young child who was taken seriously ill they were not permitted to pass reception in the hospital until they produced a credit card.

[AlanHolt]

I get annual Worldwide Travel Insurance with my bank account with emergency medical cover up to £10 million....yes, £10 million....for £27 a month. Plus a few other things as well. That seems quite good value to me . Of course, I've no idea if I'd have to pay first ...which would be a problem... ...and claim it back on the Insurance or whether the Insurance company just takes over the costs like the EHIC card does? .

My friend has a similar deal with his bank. When he tripped and broke 8 ribs, he was taken to hospital in Alcaniz (Spain) where they assessed his injuries, but nobody could see him and his treatment was limited until his son took the policy document to the hospital. Once payment had been authorised by the insurer, we were allowed in and he was treated.

Compare that to someone like my girlfriend who simply waved her ehic card at the paramedics and was treated for 9 days.

[DavidS]

The card is a good thing but it has it’s limitations for full cover.
By basic treatment, I meant the initial essentials. I may be wrong but I can’t see it covering weeks of rehab before you can go home.

Let’s face it, although handy, it’s hardly a Remain/Leave deal breaker for most people.

[lancashirelad]

When I've toured Europe in the car I've always taken out EHICplus it covers you for the things EHIC doesn't, let's face it after (if) we leave there will need to be reciprocal agreements about all sorts which visitors from the EU will need as much as we do?
I heard that after we leave there will be 5yrs of negotiations to follow, which is daunting as I'm fed up of it all already