British nationals living in the EU who fall ill after a no deal Brexit may be forced to pay for their own treatment.
With just six weeks to go until Brexit, health secretary Matt Hancock is attempting to formalise a series of bilateral arrangements with countries like Spain and France to cover the medical bills of British citizens living abroad. Ministers were told last week that UK citizens should be urgently advised to take out private health insurance if they are resident in EU countries.
Details of the requirement were set out by the government in the latest tranche of so-called ‘no deal notices’ that have been published to give details on what might happen if Britain leaves the bloc on March 29 without a withdrawal agreement. If prime minister Theresa May’s deal is agreed by members of parliament, the European Health Insurance Card (“EHIC”) system that guarantee access to healthcare in the EU and other European countries will roll over for the duration of the Brexit transition period, meaning the status quo should be maintained until at least January 1, 2021.
However, in the event of a no deal Brexit, EHICs will no longer be valid which means British nationals will not be covered for the cost of treating conditions such as cancer diagnosed after March 29, nor will they be allowed to fly back and have treatment on the NHS if they are deemed resident in another country If a Briton living in an EU country is already being treated for a condition such as cancer, the EU government will continue to pay for the treatment.
