The EHIC and the GHIC
The EHIC or European Health Insurance Card applies to the 27 countries in the EU and the other four in the EEA or European Economic Area. These countries are Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Individuals in the UK can retain and continue to use an existing EHIC until its expiry date.
The UK’s new GHIC or Global Health Insurance Card applies to the 27 countries in the EU and a number of British territories. We plan to extend this list with a series of reciprocal agreements with other countries. It should be emphasised that both cards provide for only the health cover applying to the other country’s nationals. The cover will therefore vary depending where you travel.
It is good that the newly independent UK and the EU can work together where we have a common interest. The lateness of the outcome of the protracted Brexit negotiations (along with the pandemic) inevitably creates administration problems, but they should reduce substantially in the future. There’s more on https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/
(11/01/2021)
