Medical emergencies

In all nations in which the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is valid, contractual doctors and contractual hospitals are obligated to treat you as they would a national patient. As a rule the costs are settled directly between the local health insurance system and your health insurance provider in Austria. In some countries (e.g., France), even domestic patients must first pay for the treatment themselves and are subsequently reimbursed by the health insurance provider. This would likewise apply to all foreign patients. In this case, please request an itemized bill and upon your return, submit the original copy to your competent health insurance provider. As a rule the expenses will be reimbursed according to the Austrian scale of fees.

Important - the European Health Insurance Card

• is no substitute for your travel insurance
• does not apply to costs incurred for planned medical treatments
• does not guarantee cost-free treatment because of the differences in national healthcare systems

The front side of the EHIC looks the same in every country and contains the same information, although in the respective national language. The back side of the card differs from country to country. For persons insured in Austria, the EHIC is on the back side of the e-card. It is valid in the following states:

• EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus (Greek part)
• Great Britain
• EEA States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
• EFTA State: Switzerland
• Contracting state: by a bilateral agreement on 1.1.2013, the EHIC card is valid in Macedonia since then.