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The Europe blog publishes their facts on European Health care. I’m highlighting this article as it also includes information useful to European travelers in case of a medical emergency.
Stethoscope, by Biology Big Brother
The article discusses increasing health budget cuts, an aging European population, the small average European country spend vs GDP and also delves into the way different Europe member states run their health service, giving France and Switzerland as examples.
One very important observation is that Europe has a universal health care system. However, not all European partner countries provide equal health care. At present, the largest health care industry is in the UK, with many benefits free to both British nationals and visitors from Europe (see below).
There exists since 2004 a European health care insurance card for all nationals, which provides reciprocal health care benefits for short term visits. Money spent on medical services is supposed to be reimbursed upon returning to one’s country of origin. This card covers European and European Economic area nationals (inc Swiss) and Nationals of Member states covered under the EU’s social security system. As the card only contains very basic information about each individual, those with a medical history should also have appropriate documentation when traveling.
As the health benefits when traveling in Europe do not cover either everything or indeed everyone, it is also crucial that travel insurance is taken up prior to leaving one’s national borders.
Also see our own 10 top tips for safe travel.
1 response so far ↓
1 Europe jobs: current info // Jan 29, 2010 at 1:08 am
[...] To be on the safe side, also consider our previous article on European health care for travelers. [...]