Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

(asked on 21st October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to seek a continuation of the European Health Insurance Card scheme for UK citizens after the transition period.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 3rd November 2020

From 1 January 2021, under the Withdrawal Agreement some groups will be entitled to a United Kingdom issued European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for travel in the European Union. These include:

- UK state pensioners living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland at the end of Transition Period,

- Individuals who are frontier workers at the end of the Transition Period, for as long as they continue to be covered by the Agreement, and

- EEA or Swiss nationals residing in the UK by the end of the Transition Period.

UK nationals already living in the EU who hold a Member State EHIC may use this when accessing healthcare within the EU and UK.

For people not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, the future of reciprocal healthcare arrangements between the UK and EU are subject to negotiations, which are ongoing.

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