Head of Unit Secretariat General European Commission

 

Dear Mr X,

On 2 August 2023, the European Ombudsman received a query from the Ombudsman of Spain concerning certain information provided to citizens by the European Commission as regards the use of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

The Spanish Ombudsman dealt with a complaint from a Spanish citizen who needed medical care at a Dutch hospital during a visit to Amsterdam. The citizen produced his EHIC to the hospital and was only required to pay the cost of medication. On his return to Spain, the Spanish citizen received a bill from the Dutch hospital for €825.00, which he paid. Following the intervention of the Spanish Ombudsman, this amount was reimbursed to him by the Spanish Social Security (Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social).

The query from the Spanish Ombudsman relates to the accuracy of the information, which the Commission provides on its website and, in particular, the explanations as to the use of the EHIC and the manner in which healthcare expenses are reimbursed by reference to each Member State and each participating country. Based on this, we would ask the Commission to reply to the following question:

Could the Commission review the information it has provided on its website concerning the use of the European Health Insurance Card in order to determine whether the information is accurate and to consider whether further clarifications are needed to remove any ambiguity as regards the use of the card and the manner in which expenses are reimbursed?

I would appreciate it if the Commission could respond to this query and the questions above by 16/10/2023, if possible, so that I can forward the information to the Ombudsman of Spain.

A copy of this letter, and of the Commission’s reply, will be made available on the Ombudsman’s website.

Yours sincerely,

Rosita Hickey
Director of Inquiries

Strasbourg, 28/08/2023