bobbi2

Once you hold a carte vitale in France I understand the EHIC card needs to be returned to the UK if you are no longer a UK citizen, but what happens if you visit Switzerland or any other european country, are the carte vitales covered (or part covered) in these countries, or is it necessary to have travel insurance?

Im_and_Er

I'm afraid you understand it wrongly, or at least not completely.

First it's useful to remember that a UK EHIC and a Carte Vitale are really nothing to do with each other and also that the Carte Vitale is just a convenience for payments so what you are really talking about is affiliation to the French health system.

If you are affiliated by virtue of a UK E form, S1 if you prefer, then you are also entitled to a UK EHIC which will cover you elsewhere in Europe.

If your E form cover expires before you have completed 5 years of legal residence then your UK EHIC becomes invalid and you are on your own with private insurance. There is no requirement to surrender it in this case.

Once you have completed 5 years and are therefore become entitled to health care without condition then your EHIC will be issued by France, it's called a CEAM and only lasts for a year.

Once you reach UK state pension age and qualify for an E121 then you again become eligible for a UK EHIC.

An EHIC should never be regarded as a substitute for proper travel insurance.

cmread

Really? We've been here less than 5 years - 2 and a half, actually - and our local CPAM gave us a CEAM card. Las year, we thought that we were going to visit Belgium and that our UK EHIC wouldn't cover us so we asked at CPAM and they gave us both one, no problem at all. It's just expired but I'm sure that there would be no problem renewing it.

Are you saying that they shouldn't have given us this card? That it wouldn't cover us?

TinaBee

It depends. AFAIK, if you are covered by CPAM because you work in France or pay into CMU, then CPAM will issue the CEAM. If you are covered by an S1 form issued from the UK then it is the UK who should provice an EHIC.

Im_and_Er

Exactly right and under those circumstances any UK EHIC you hold is worthless.

There is another possibility though and that is prior to May 1st last year those who were here under an E form did in fact get their CEAMs from CPAM so if your travel was before or around that time that would explain it. It's also quite possible that some CPAM offices were slow on the uptake and were still erroneously issuing CEAM's after that date.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthc...gulations.aspx