Is health insurance required to return to visit UK from France?
Certain health access remains free at the point of use for all
It is possible to sign up to a GP surgery as a ‘temporary patient’ on return trips
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Reader question: Do you have any advice as to healthcare for when I return to visit friends and family in the UK? Being a non-UK resident I think I am not entitled to NHS cover.
You are correct that you may lose many rights to NHS services if you no longer have your primary residence in the UK.
Only certain groups, such as ex-diplomats and UK war pension recipients can currently continue to use NHS services after moving abroad.
It is, however, still possible to sign up to a GP surgery as a ‘temporary patient’ on return trips lasting from one day to three months, and GP services, as well as others deemed ‘primary care’, are free to all.
In theory, GP surgeries should allow you to complete a form to do this and your request cannot be rejected, although it may be difficult to find a GP to take you on short notice for a very brief trip.
However, even if you are not their ‘temporary patient’, they should still not refuse emergency treatment for a period of up to 14 days.
Other ‘primary care’ services such as A+E are free at the point of use to anyone who needs them, although follow-up hospital treatment may be billed for.
In all cases, urgent medical cases are always treated, with payment being arranged later.
Residents in France who belong to the French Assurance Maladie and are not covered for healthcare by the UK or another EU state under an S1 form, can apply for a carte européenne d'assurance maladie (Ceam) health card, that covers essential medical costs in several European countries including the UK at the same rates as for a resident (ie. free of charge in the UK).
However, if you have a UK S1, you are entitled only to an ‘Ehic’ or ‘Ghic’, the British variants. These cards cannot be used in the UK, however, but only abroad in other EU countries.
If you were a resident of France or elsewhere in the EU before December 31, 2020 and are thus a Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary and have a registered S1 form, you do not have to pay for any NHS treatment, including that not considered ‘primary’ care.
Otherwise, those who are more recent arrivals in France with UK S1 forms should apply for travel insurance which includes medical coverage, on the basis of being a visitor to the UK.
This can come from a French or international insurer, but you should check that the cover is suitable for your needs.
