Less than one in three go for free EU health insurance (July 9th, 2009)
July 9, 2009 at 1:01 pm 2 comments
Just under 30 per cent of Irish people have availed of a free EU health insurance scheme since it was set up five years ago, according to new figures released this week. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) replaced the previous E111 form and covers the cost of medical care received during a temporary stay in any member state. It also applies to those travelling in non EU-countries of Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. 180 million people across Europe have signed up to get the card, but Ireland reports one of the poorest levels of take-up.
Peter (32) from Kildare is a sports enthusiast who made use of the EHIC card during a trip to France in February earlier this year. He broke his arm in a mountain bike accident and had to attend the local hospital in a rural community in the French Alps. ‘As soon as they saw my arm I was admitted straight away and well looked after,’ he said. ‘Sometimes you hear stories of having to wait or pay upfront for treatment, but that didn’t happen when I showed them the EHIC card. They recognised it straight away,’ he added.
The card covers those travelling for work, studies or leisure. Application forms are available online on the HSE website.
Entry filed under: Health and the EU. Tags: .
1.
Gry Dla Dzieci | July 13, 2009 at 10:36 am
I think there are 2 things at play here. One – the whole thing didn’t get enough media exposition and people just missed it. Two – people are just too lazy to go and wait in lines just to get the insurance. Pretty stupid if you ask me but what can you do?
2.
Ubieranki | December 11, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I agree with Gry people are too lazy to go and wait to get the insurance. But insurance is very usefull and they relized that when they get sick or sth… great post!