Most people pack one of these and assume it covers the other. It does not, and the gap is expensive.
What the EHIC does
The European Health Insurance Card gets you public healthcare in another EU or EEA country on the same terms as a local. That includes treatment that cannot wait until you are home, care for a chronic condition, pregnancy and childbirth.
"Same terms as a local" is the part people miss: if locals pay a share of the cost, so do you.
What it does not do
The European Commission puts it plainly: the EHIC "is not an alternative to travel insurance", and it covers no private healthcare and no planned treatment.
Three things it will not pay for:
- The rescue itself. A helicopter in Austria averages around 3,500 euros. One rescue of a school group in Tyrol came to roughly 18,000 euros. In Switzerland, a chartered helicopter runs at about 100 francs a minute.
- Getting you home. Repatriation with medical care is usually the largest bill of all, and it is exactly what travel insurance is for.
- Private hospitals. Which, in some resorts, is the only hospital nearby.
What to carry
- Your EHIC, and your travel insurance policy number.
- The insurer's 24-hour emergency number, not the office number.
- Whether your policy covers the sport you are actually doing. Many exclude anything above a certain altitude, off marked pistes, or via ferrata.
- In Austria, an alpine club membership often includes rescue cover. In Switzerland, Rega patronage does something similar. Both cost less than one bad afternoon.
The part that matters for a group
The bill arrives for the person who is hurt, but the phone call is made by someone standing next to them. Keep your policy number and the insurer's number where someone else in the group can find them, not only in your own wallet.
Sources
Parta is not an emergency service and this is not insurance advice. Check your own policy before you travel.
- European Commission, European Health Insurance Card: commission.europa.eu
- EUR-Lex summary of the EHIC rules: eur-lex.europa.eu
- European Consumer Centre Austria, air rescue costs: europakonsument.at