New EU visa rules - health insurance

[Traffic]

Hello

I am not 100% on any of this, but a question has been posed by an elderly family member who wishes to travel to Europe to visit children/grand-children, it seems the new Visa scheme for entry into Europe that starts this autumn requires proof of proper medical insurance, now for an elderly person who has recently had cancer, is there an affordable solution to this or is it another freedom removed due to Brexit?

If anyone knows 100% what the requirements are it would be appreciated.

TIA

[philv]

What happened to the ghic , global health insurance card for emergency treatnent?

Why does one now need health insurance?

[Your Dad]

philv said:

What happened to the ghic , global health insurance card for emergency treatnent?

Why does one now need health insurance?

GHIC still exists, but as it’s always clearly stated “A UK GHIC (or UK EHIC) does not replace travel and medical insurance”.

[LunarOne]

But why does this family member need a visa in the first place? I guess you're not talking about travelling from the UK then? Brits do not need a visa to enter Europe as long as it's for a period exceeding 90 days in a 180 day period and therefore should not be subject to the terms of getting a visa.

[The Leaper]

Perhaps the OP has incorrectly referred to a "new visa scheme". What is being introduced in this autumn is the new ETIAS scheme that will apply to Brits entering the EU, among others.

R.

[JoshSm]

ETIAS doesn't require insurance. A Schengen visa does.

[InitialDave]

I think there's a few things going on here.

1 - Assuming they're a UK citizen with a UK passport etc, no, they probably don't need a visa.

2 - EES (Entry/Exit System) is what is meant to be kicking in this autumn, the digital & biometric system to take over from traditional physical passport stamping.
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/ltr

3 - ETIAS (European Travel Information & Authorisation System) will be implemented end of next year, still not a visa, but a travel authorisation that's logged against your passport for up to 3 years, much the same as what you have to fill out to visit, for example, the USA, or Canada.
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias

4 - The GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card), to give you access to a certain level of emergency medical treatment abroad. Put crudely, it's akin to "this person has access to state healthcare at home, please allow them access to emergency state healthcare while they are visiting your country"
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/get-healthcare-cover-tra...

5 - Private health/travel insurance

My understanding is that when the EES comes in, it's quite likely that the registration points will be set up such that everyone gets asked about whether they have health insurance/a return ticket etc, and anyone saying "no" gets bumped up to a manual check, as opposed to how it works now where these are questions the border staff can choose to ask.

For my part, I wouldn't travel abroad without insurance, and my medical history makes "generic" insurers rather leery of me, so for the past couple of years I've used Travel Insurance 4 Medical. However, I haven't needed to make a claim, which is really the only time you find out if an insurer is any cop.

[Ezra]

Traffic said:

Hello

I am not 100% on any of this, but a question has been posed by an elderly family member who wishes to travel to Europe to visit children/grand-children, it seems the new Visa scheme for entry into Europe that starts this autumn requires proof of proper medical insurance, now for an elderly person who has recently had cancer, is there an affordable solution to this or is it another freedom removed due to Brexit?

If anyone knows 100% what the requirements are it would be appreciated.

TIA

Just get them to obtain medical insurance - problem solved. Anyone who travels overseas should have this in any event. The new visa scheme / Brexit (??) - these are red herrings. If you travel o'seas, you really REALLY need to take out medical insurance!

[98elise]

Your Dad said:

philv said:

What happened to the ghic , global health insurance card for emergency treatnent?

Why does one now need health insurance?

GHIC still exists, but as it’s always clearly stated “A UK GHIC (or UK EHIC) does not replace travel and medical insurance”.

Agreed. No matter what emergency treatment you can get for free locally, there is way more to travel insurance. What would happen if say you needed to be repatriated on a medical flight.

I know someone stupid enough to have gone on a skiing holiday with no travel insurance. The bill for getting him off the mountain with a buggered knee was pretty big.

[The Leaper]

98elise said:

Your Dad said:

philv said:

What happened to the ghic , global health insurance card for emergency treatnent?

Why does one now need health insurance?

GHIC still exists, but as it’s always clearly stated “A UK GHIC (or UK EHIC) does not replace travel and medical insurance”.

Agreed. No matter what emergency treatment you can get for free locally, there is way more to travel insurance. What would happen if say you needed to be repatriated on a medical flight.

I know someone stupid enough to have gone on a skiing holiday with no travel insurance. The bill for getting him off the mountain with a buggered knee was pretty big.

Several years ago my neighbour was holidaying in Fuerteventura and suffered a stroke, and in time was repatriated back to the UK by air ambulance. The cost was about £25,000. She had travel insurance and the whole experience was paid by the insurer. So, don't leave home without it!

R.

[miniman]

Aside of the debate on whether or not insurance is required, I use Staysure for condition-declared (cancer) travel insurance. I suspect for someone elderly it will be costly though.

[extraT]

Never understood why people even take the risk, knowing how costly it can be.

If the condition is known and complications (no matter how small) can arise, don’t take the risk - get insurance.

Even generally, health insurance when going abroad is a great idea!

[LunarOne]

There's been a lot of talk of how foolhardy it is to travel without travel insurance, but I think the OP is talking about medical insurance which might not be the same thing as travel insurance. If the OPs relative is intending on staying longer than a normal tourist or business trip, then this may be why he is talking about visas and in that case travel insurance won't necessarily cover that length of stay.

[xx99xx]

extraT said:

Never understood why people even take the risk, knowing how costly it can be.

If the condition is known and complications (no matter how small) can arise, don’t take the risk - get insurance.

Even generally, health insurance when going abroad is a great idea!

Exactly. And given that travel insurance usually includes medical cover and it's so cheap, seems a no brainer to just get it. I get that prices go up with known medical conditions but I personally wouldn't take the risk for a relatively small sum.

I knew someone who was fit as a fiddle. 30 years old, did triathlons etc. Became ill with intense pain at the airport waiting to depart. He didn't make the flight but was then hospitalised for a few weeks and diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. If that pain had hit a few hours later, that insurance would have come in handy.

[Griffith4ever]

Ezra said:

Traffic said:

Hello

I am not 100% on any of this, but a question has been posed by an elderly family member who wishes to travel to Europe to visit children/grand-children, it seems the new Visa scheme for entry into Europe that starts this autumn requires proof of proper medical insurance, now for an elderly person who has recently had cancer, is there an affordable solution to this or is it another freedom removed due to Brexit?

If anyone knows 100% what the requirements are it would be appreciated.

TIA

Just get them to obtain medical insurance - problem solved. Anyone who travels overseas should have this in any event. The new visa scheme / Brexit (??) - these are red herrings. If you travel o'seas, you really REALLY need to take out medical insurance!

You missed the bit about elderly and recent cancer - he probbably can't get insurance at a price that is reasonable.

p..s you don't "really NEED" medical insurance in Europe. I broke my ankle in Austria last year, I was insured, but, I never claimed a penny. GHIC did all the heavy lifting.

[InitialDave]

Griffith4ever said:

p..s you don't "really NEED" medical insurance in Europe. I broke my ankle in Austria last year, I was insured, but, I never claimed a penny. GHIC did all the heavy lifting.

Choose to only have emergencies that are within the remit of GHIC.

Top travel tip there, Griffith.

[i4got]

Setting aside whether its a legal requirement, it’s pretty sensible to have travel insurance in place. For an annual policy for a couple with cancer recorded as a pre-existing condition I pay £165 a year with Cover For You for their gold level policy.

If people are happy to self fund any emergencies or happy to join the plethora of go fund me requests looking for help with repatriation costs then good for them.

[Squadrone Rosso]

Hopefully cut down on all the go fund me type things you see in the news / social media