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Written Question
Health Services: EU Countries
Wednesday 13th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the provision of reciprocal free healthcare within Europe and England.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is currently wide-ranging advice and guidance on reciprocal healthcare arrangements across GOV.UK, the National Health Service website and the NHS Business Services Authority website. The Department also works closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office across Europe to promote people’s reciprocal healthcare entitlements, which includes country-specific guides.

We use a variety of communications activities including videos, blogs and social media messaging to reach different groups. The Department also works with travel companies and relevant media outlets to include reciprocal healthcare information.

To further promote the benefits of the Global Health Insurance Card, which is the eligibility document for accessing necessary healthcare when United Kingdom residents visit eligible countries, we are in the process of reviewing all Government content to make clearer the benefits of reciprocal healthcare arrangements to the public and ensure people can easily access information on the support available in-country should they require necessary healthcare.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Monday 6th March 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of expanding reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the EU to include elective treatment.

Answered by Will Quince

As a result of the EU-UK Trade Cooperation Agreement, the United Kingdom benefits from a comprehensive reciprocal healthcare agreement with the European Union.

The arrangements includes the “S2” planned treatment funding route which entitles UK residents to National Health Service funding for planned state healthcare treatment in an EU country if certain criteria, set out in the Agreement, are met. This covers elective treatment.

Treatment must normally be provided on the NHS, be available on the treating country’s state healthcare scheme, and the same treatment cannot be provided to the patient on the NHS within a time period that is medically justifiable.

There are currently no plans to further expand reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the EU.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has given to local authorities on ensuring the education, health and social care services work together to provide services with young people with special educational needs.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Part Three of the Children and Families Act 2014, imposes a range of duties on local authorities in England in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their areas, or for whom they are otherwise responsible. These include:

  • The identification of children and young people with SEND
  • The integration of educational provision and training provision with health care provision and social care provision
  • The joint commissioning of education, health and care provision for children and young people with SEND
  • Cooperation with their local partners over the authorities’ functions under the 2014 Act in relation to SEND, with reciprocal duties on their partners
  • Publishing and then keeping under review SEND Local Offers, which set out the provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people with SEND
  • Making arrangements for children and young people and their parents to be provided with advice and information about matters relating to the special educational needs or disability of the children or young people concerned

The 2014 Act requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to issue a code of practice giving guidance to local authorities, and others, about the exercise of their functions under Part Three of the Act, to which they must have regard. This statutory guidance is the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (2015), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.

Local authorities must publish a summary of comments at least annually. All local areas are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which does include judgements about the Local Offer where appropriate. Where a local area’s Local Offer is identified as a significant weakness by Ofsted/CQC, the department provides intervention and support to secure improvement.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Monday 25th April 2022

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purpose his Department has commissioned legal advice from Pinsent Masons LLP on matters relating to (a) DHSC funding of overseas healthcare and (b) the charging of healthcare provided in the UK.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Department commissioned advice and training from Pinsent Masons LLP on the powers available to the Department, health boards and clinical commissioning groups to fund healthcare abroad and how these interrelate.


Written Question
Global Health Insurance Card
Thursday 10th March 2022

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria are used to choose those selected for residency checks while applying for a UK Global Health Insurance Card; what assessment his Department has been made of the equity of those criteria; and whether a ministerial direction was issued in determining those criteria.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Applications for United Kingdom Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) are processed by the NHS Business Services Authority under the Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Applicants may be eligible for a GHIC if they are ordinarily resident in the UK and they do not have healthcare cover provided by a European Union country or Switzerland. UK residency was also an eligibility requirement under the previous European Health Insurance Card system.

To verify applications, the NHS Business Service Authority shares information with Indesser to establish a UK residential address. If an applicant’s residential address cannot be verified, the NHS Business Service Authority will request further evidence from the applicant. There is a wide range of documents which may be used to provide this evidence. This supports all eligible applicants in demonstrating their entitlement and no-one is disadvantaged. Applicants are asked to provide two of the following documents:

- one or more different utility service bills dated within the last three months;

- a local authority council tax bill dated for the current financial year;

- a valid housing association, council tenancy letter or rent agreement;

- a benefit award notice dated within the last three months;

- a letter from HM Revenue and Customs dated within the last three months;

- a bank, building society or credit union statement or passbook dated within the last three months;

- an electoral register entry dated for the current financial year;

- a letter from hospital or general practitioner on headed paper dated within the last three months;

- a mortgage statement from a recognised lender dated within the last three months;

- an HM Revenue and Customs self-assessment letter or tax demand dated for the current financial year; and

- a solicitor’s letter dated within the last three months that shows a recent house purchase or land registry including the address.

Applicants may also send alternative evidence showing their full name and address. The residency check was introduced to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent on those who are eligible under the reciprocal healthcare agreements. There are no Ministerial Directions which relate to GHIC evidential requirements.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Thursday 10th June 2021

Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he is making on providing Global Health Insurance Cards to residents in Northern Ireland without the Union Flag on them.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) provides necessary healthcare cover to United Kingdom residents when travelling in the European Union. It is important that the card can be easily identified as a UK document and can be recognised by healthcare providers internationally. The Union Flag is the official flag of the UK and therefore the appropriate branding for such documents.

The Government recognises the particular sensitivities around flags in Northern Ireland. As such, residents in Northern Ireland will be provided with an option to choose an alternative version of the GHIC which does not feature a Union Flag background. For security reasons all versions of GHIC have the same anti-fraud hologram which does feature the Union Flag. Residents of Northern Ireland can apply for the alternative GHIC design from 30 June 2021 at the following link:

NHS.UK/GHIC


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Thursday 11th February 2021

Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Northern Ireland citizens who hold dual nationalities under the Good Friday Agreement will be eligible for the new EHIC card from 1 January 2021.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement all United Kingdom residents, including the people of Northern Ireland, will receive the new UK Global Health Insurance Card announced on 11 January 2021.

This offers equivalent protection for emergency and medically necessary healthcare needs to the European Health Insurance Card when in the European Union on a temporary stay.

This is without prejudice to the rights people may have under the Withdrawal Agreement. Citizens of Northern Ireland who live in the UK will not usually have ongoing rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, but they may have such rights if they have resided or paid contributions in the EU in the past.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Wednesday 27th January 2021

Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for the UK Global Health Insurance Card have been received since the introduction of that scheme.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The NHS Business Services Authority has received over 38,000 applications for the United Kingdom Global Health Insurance Card since the announcement of the scheme on 11 January 2021.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Monday 18th January 2021

Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the differences in coverage of (a) countries and (b) services are between the European Health Insurance Card scheme and the UK Global Health Insurance Card; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The reciprocal healthcare coverage under the United Kingdom-European Union Trade and Cooperation Agreement for those on a temporary stay in an EU member state is the same, in terms of healthcare services which can be accessed by individuals, compared to the previous coverage under EU Regulations 883 and 987. However, under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, crew or passengers of a vessel or aircraft may now be covered for necessary healthcare on their arrival in an EU member state if the need arose whilst on a voyage, which is not the case under the EU Regulations.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides reciprocal healthcare coverage for travel to EU member states only. European Free Trade Area states are not covered. The UK Global Health Insurance Card has been launched to recognise this new agreement and will gradually replace old European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) once they expire.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, UK nationals who were residing and/or working in the EU, and EU citizens residing and/or working in the UK, before 1 January 2021 are eligible to apply for a new UK EHIC which can be used for travel to EU member states, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. For those who are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has agreed a bilateral reciprocal arrangement with Norway which means UK nationals are covered for necessary healthcare there.


Written Question
Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements
Tuesday 12th January 2021

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish details on how to apply for the new Global Health Insurance Card.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Details on the new United Kingdom Global Health Insurance Card were announced on 11 January, in recognition of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union.

Current European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) will remain valid until the expiration date on the card and do not need to be replaced immediately. Expired EHICs will be able to be replaced with the new Global Health Insurance Card.

To apply for the new Global Health Insurance Card, as now, UK residents will be able to apply online.

If a UK resident is travelling and they do not have their card, they are still entitled to necessary healthcare should it be required. In these circumstances they should contact the NHS Business Services Authority for a Provisional Replacement Certificate.