Britons held hostage by foreign hospitals | Mail Online
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Holidaymakers face being denied medical help or having to pay huge hospital bills because clinics in cash-strapped EU nations are refusing to treat them.
British tourists have been urged not to rely on the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which is supposed to give all EU citizens access to state medical care in member countries.
Hundreds are being held hostage by hospitals who are rejecting the cards and demanding travel insurers cover the cost of medical care.
British tourists have been urged not to rely on the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which is supposed to give all EU citizens access to state medical care in member countries.
Hundreds are being held hostage by hospitals who are rejecting the cards and demanding travel insurers cover the cost of medical care.
Why the UK is out of pocket
The EHIC card entitles you to free state medical care throughout Europe.
Cardholders should be treated like a resident of the country they are visiting. In exchange, citizens of other EU countries get NHS treatment in Britain. But Britain gets much less back than it pays in under the scheme.
Last year, for example, it gave £7.9 million to Greece, but only received £500,000 in return.
Spaniards got £247.3 million, but Britons received only £3.2 million in Spain.
The EHIC card entitles you to free state medical care throughout Europe.
Cardholders should be treated like a resident of the country they are visiting. In exchange, citizens of other EU countries get NHS treatment in Britain. But Britain gets much less back than it pays in under the scheme.
Last year, for example, it gave £7.9 million to Greece, but only received £500,000 in return.
Spaniards got £247.3 million, but Britons received only £3.2 million in Spain.
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