Pre Existing Medical Condition

Earlier this week I received this from OHS in the UK :

'The UK EHIC's you have will provide cover for medically necessary state provided healthcare in Spain but you would be advised to also obtain Health Insurance cover until you can apply for your S1 certificates.' 

So emergency treatment will be covered by the EHIC card. 'Medically necessary state provided health care' might include for pre-existing conditions, but could be open to interpretation. 

There is a department in the UK that can advise you on what your EHIC card covers, here's the email address:

[email protected]

My friends have health insurance with DKV and the husband has an underactive thyroid. He has regular checks under the policy but of course its not a serious health issue. Have you tried DKV? 

I hope this helps. 

No no no..the EHIC card is not for Residents to use, its purely for holiday makers. They will  have to get medical insurance that covers all existing conditions. 

If you are not already residents, then health insurance will be required to obtain the visa.  GHIC won’t cut it - as pointed out, that is purely for holiday makers to obtain necessary treatment if illness befalls them whilst out of the UK.

That's exactly what we thought after reading various posts here and in other places, but there is often conflicting information so I wrote to the OHS telling them that we are resident in Spain, not entitled to the S1. I asked if we were entitled to NHS care (although I assumed we were not) because I wanted the facts. 

We are not entitled to NHS care but our EHIC card covers urgent treatment, as they wrote in their reply:

'The UK EHIC's you have will provide cover for medically necessary state provided healthcare in Spain but you would be advised to also obtain Health Insurance cover until you can apply for your S1 certificates.' 

Strangely enough, my husband needed treatment in A&E yesterday and his EHIC card was all he needed, although we have private cover. They weren't interested in the private cover. They took his EHIC and residency and that was it. 

You are welcome to check if I am right, just email 

[email protected]

and ask the question. 

It's better than relying on forums.