EHIC/Travel insurance

I

Itchy

Registered User
Messages
984
Hi guys,Quick question, i'm over in France at the moment and I need to see a dentist (or a man with a bit of string and a heavy rock!!). Basically i'm a poor student with no cash so I need the smallest possible fee. Does anybody know if the fee with the EHIC card is lower than if I went in with my insurance. On the EHIC website it says I can claim back 70% of the fee's. If the charges are the same should I claim in the insurance or through the EHIC?Thanks...
 
I didn't think that the EHIC was like an insurance policy, where you pay out up front and claim the fee back. I thought that you just presented the EHIC card and got the service free of charge.
 
Itchy, as far as I understand it the EHIC card entitles you to the same treatment as a French person would receive i.e. they get 70% back (% is different depending on treatment). I am in France at the moment and haven't received my Carte Vitale yet (a card to prove I'm covered by social security) so I have to pay the full amount when I go to the doc (haven't been to dentist sorry), but claim back after visit (get 14 out of 20 euro back for each visit). Not sure if your EHIC will work like the Carte Vitale i.e. you only pay the balance.
You referred to your other "insurance" - what is that?
 
In France, you will need to prepay all the medical fees/drugs and afterwards you need to send the form that the doctor/dentist/pharmacist will give you for refund to the closed CPAM of your holiday stay which will organise the refund.
It takes quite a long time to get a refund, they are slow to deal withand you need to harass them quite a lot. Good luck

But you can be lucky and get a doctor/dentist who will not charge you anything, it happens to me when I was in my honeymoon in Martinique, the dentist having no clue how the card work he just made the emergency work without charging me anything
 
Yeah - I thought that the EHIC gave you access to the public health service in the country in which you are travelling and you did not have to pay any private charges whatever about any standard public health charges that might apply (e.g. like the Irish A&E charges). I certainly didn't think that it was comparable or equivalent in any way to a private health insurance or travel insurance policy. I reckon your best bet is to use the ECIC (if applicable) to attend a public health service clinic in France if these exist for dental treatment. If in doubt you could probably contact the health authority in Ireland for info/advice about the EHIC.
 
You can log as well on www.ehic.ie who explains for each countries how it is working. It is clearly stated that in France you will need to pay the doctor/dentist/pharmacies fees and request afterwards a refund to the closest CPAM.
 
Samatha said:
You can log as well on www.ehic.ie who explains for each countries how it is working. It is clearly stated that in France you will need to pay the doctor/dentist/pharmacies fees and request afterwards a refund to the closest CPAM.
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Yes thats what I read on the site however my question was wheather I should give my EHIC or travel insurance to the dentist because if the fees were the same I would get the full refund from the insurance company (less the excess of course) unless it was free with the EHIC.

A German guy I know had to get X-rays on a broken rib and gave his EHIC and he paid nothing.

Clubman said:
I reckon your best bet is to use the ECIC (if applicable) to attend a public health service clinic in France if these exist for dental treatment.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am inclined to agree. I am not sure if there is a public clinic or do the French just use the private practioners, if anyone can clarify?

pernickety said:
so I have to pay the full amount when I go to the doc (haven't been to dentist sorry), but claim back after visit (get 14 out of 20 euro back for each visit).
Click to expand...

This was with the EHIC I presume.

I am really not sure what is the best action. I am nearly sure I will need a tooth out and dont have the funds to pay for it without things getting messy.

At the end of the day I will probably have to pay but if so, I believe I should claim the funds back from my travel insurance. As 1. Payment will be more than 70% and 2. I will be reimbursed quicker. Am I correct?
 

Contact your insurance, they will be able to tell black and white if they will refund you and how long it takes.
 
Sorry not really good at using quote.
My apologies, some of my answer appear in the quote. sorry
 
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