Request

Please supply the following information under the FOI Act in relation to Global Health Insurance Cards (GHICs) and European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs).

Q1) What is the total number of GHICs held by UK citizens that are currently valid for use?

Q2) What is the total number of EHICs held by UK citizens that are currently valid for use?

Q3) How many valid GHICs held by UK citizens will expire this calendar year (2025)? Please provide a month by month break down if avaialble.

Q4) How many valid EHICs held by UK citizens will expire this calendar year (2025)? Please provide a month by month breakdown if available.

Q5) What is the current wait/processing time to receive a GHIC after an application is submitted?

Q6) Between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024, how many direct claims were received by the NHS from countries supplying treatment under GHIC, EHIC or S2 (please provide separate figures for GHIC, EHIC and S2 if possible) and what was the total amount paid out?

Q7) In relation to Q6, please provide a list of the top ten countries who made the most claims (include the number of claims and the total amount claimed).

Q8) Between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024, what were the top ten largest claims received by the NHS under GHIC, EHIC or S2 (please provide separate figures for GHIC, EHIC and S2 if possible).

Q9) What were the five most common illnesses/treatments claims were made for to the NHS by countries under GHIC/EHIC? For instance, Sunburn.

You clarified your request for question 6 on 20 February 2025 as follows:

Are you able to provide both sets of data separately please?

Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds some of the information you have requested.

Question 1: What is the total number of GHICs held by UK citizens that are currently valid for use?

Question 2: What is the total number of EHICs held by UK citizens that are currently valid for use?

Question 3: How many valid GHICs held by UK citizens will expire this calendar year (2025)? Please provide a month by month break down if available.

Question 4: How many valid EHICs held by UK citizens will expire this calendar year (2025)? Please provide a month-by-month breakdown if available

The provided data does not represent the number of UK citizens. We are unable to provide data specifically for UK citizens as this information is not required as part of the application process and is therefore not held by NHSBSA. Eligibility for a UK European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) can be viewed at the following weblink: Applying for healthcare cover abroad (GHIC and EHIC) - NHS(https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/)

‘No. of Valid Entitlements’ in the table is the number of entitlements valid at 1am on the 17th of February 2025.

We have included data for the following types of entitlements:

• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) – this entitlement was replaced by the UK GHIC as of 1 January 2021. Any existing EHICs remain valid until their expiry date and provide access to state-funded, medically necessary healthcare cover in European Union countries and some countries outside of the EU.

• UK GHIC – from 1 January 2021, this entitlement provides access to state-funded, medically necessary healthcare in the EU, EEA, for most people in Switzerland and some countries outside of the EU. Those who are ordinarily resident in the UK and holders of a valid S1 form may be eligible for a UK GHIC

• UK EHIC – from 10 November 2020, this entitlement provides access to state-funded, medically necessary healthcare in the EU, EEA countries and Switzerland. Those who are covered under the Withdrawal Agreement may be eligible for a UK EHIC.

• Further information regarding use of EHIC, UK GHIC and UK EHIC is available from Where can I use a UK Global Health Insurance Card (UK GHIC) or UK European Health Insurance Card (UK EHIC)? · Customer Self-Service

Please see attached table

Question 5: What is the current wait/processing time to receive a GHIC after an application is submitted?

Once the application is submitted, an email is sent within 24 hours to confirm whether or not it has been approved. There may be some additional information/evidence required before it can be approved. Once the application has been approved, the card will be received by post within 15 working days .

Question 6: Between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024, how many direct claims were received by the NHS from countries supplying treatment under GHIC, EHIC or S2 (please provide separate figures for GHIC, EHIC and S2 if possible) and what was the total amount paid out?

Please see attached table

The data above show claims received from countries (Member States) for supplying treatment abroad under UK GHIC/UK EHIC and S2.

We have included E112s as these are previous entitlements equivalent to S2.

The ‘Amount Accepted in GBP’ is the amount that has been agreed by the UK.

EEA regulations state a healthcare institution can return/reject a claim for reasons such as the claim is incomplete, or there are concerns the treatment has been provided outside the validity period of the entitlement. This may result in an increase of the presented figures when reviewed back through the years allowing for the entitlements to be validated.

The amounts were approved for payment in local currencies. For your convenience we have converted to £GBP based on an exchange rate at the time of treatment. The actual amount that will be paid out may vary as the exchange rate between currencies changes.

Please see attached table

The data above show claims received from individuals (customers) or insurers for the treatment they received in Member States whilst on temporary stay.

‘No. of Claims’ shows the number of claims which were input and processed on our system between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024.

We are unable to provide data separately for UK GHIC, UK EHIC or S2.

The NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, we estimate that the cost of compliance with the request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the FOIA.

We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the non-central Government limit of £450. The limit has been specified in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the NHSBSA holds the information, and locating, retrieving, extracting and checking the information.

Please see the following calculations which sets out the estimated cost for compliance with this request:

7914 claims were processed in 2024, This would involve retrieving the paper Refund claims forms from storage and it would take approximately 2-5 minutes to review each form. This would take approximately 264 hours to complete.

Please see the following link to view the section 12 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/12

Question 7. In relation to Q6, please provide a list of the top ten countries who made the most claims (include the number of claims and the total amount claimed).

We have included E112s as these are previous entitlements equivalent to S2.

Please see attached table.

Question 8: Between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024, what were the top ten largest claims received by the NHS under GHIC, EHIC or S2 (please provide separate figures for GHIC, EHIC and S2 if possible).

The data for ‘EHIC/GHIC’ in the table include claims from other countries made under EHIC/UK GHIC and UK EHIC. We cannot always distinguish between EHIC/UK GHIC/UK EHIC claims from other countries.

Please see attached table.

Question 9. What were the five most common illnesses/treatments claims were made for to the NHS by countries under GHIC/EHIC? For instance, Sunburn.

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.