European Law is changing and due to this the responsibility for issuing the European Health Insurance Card(EHIC) is longer placed only with the individual’s current country of residence.
One of the European Commissions objectives is the free movement of people within the European Union. As an EU citizen holding a european health insurance card you are entitled to receive required healthcare in the public system of any country in the European Economic Area and Switzerland should you become ill or injured whilst on a short stay in any of these countries.
The changes will mean the UK will have to issue the EHIC to all UK residents even if they are living elsewhere in the EU. Take the current situation of a british pensioner living in Spain, they receive their British state pension and are still for all intent and purposes a UK resident but would have had their EHIC provided by Spain.
Changes that are coming in as of the 1st May will mean that the British pensioner living in Spain will now have a EHIC issued by the UK rather than Spain.
