Post-Brexit travel healthcare: What is a UK ‘CRA’ Ehic card? – The Connexion

British Ehics (European Health Insurance Cards) issued since the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of 2021 now feature the letters CRA - leading some people to wonder about the significance of this.

Ehics are used for necessary healthcare (that cannot wait for you to return home) during visits to countries in the EU.

CRA stands for Citizens Rights Agreement and relates to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA), which was signed between the UK and EU on January 24, 2020.

Despite the word European which remains in the cards name, it was agreed in the WA that the UK would be able to continue to issue Ehic cards to people with rights under the WA.

This was in the general spirit of the agreement, that people who had been exercising their free movement rights before Brexit, including Britons in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, should be able to go on largely living their lives as before.

Until the second Brexit treaty, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) was signed on December 30, 2020, it was unclear if the UK would be able to continue to issue any other Ehics, or an equivalent, to people not covered by the WA, as the Ehic scheme is in principle an EU scheme, allowing mutual cooperation across the union for essential travel healthcare needs.

As the Brexit transition period neared its end in late 2020, the UK invited those concerned to apply for new CRA Ehics, saying that old EU British Ehics may cease to be valid after the transition period.

These have the CRA lettering on them and no EU stars.

CRA Ehics are aimed at groups covered by the WA including:

However, once the TCA treaty was signed and ratified it was clarified that the UK could continue to issue its own version of the Ehic, called the Ghic (Global Health Insurance Card), as similar cooperation on healthcare was agreed in the TCA as had existed when the UK was part of the EU.

The current situation is that:

The aim of the CRA lettering is to clarify that these are UK Ehics with ongoing validity, for people covered by the Withdrawal Agreement rights, as opposed to people who would otherwise be issued with a Ghic under the TCA.

Practically-speaking, there is no difference in the health entitlements conferred by one or the other card, however while both cards can be used in EU states and Switzerland, CRA Ehics can also be used in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, whereas Ghics cannot.

It is possible this could change in future due to bilateral negotiations, and it is already possible for UK nationals to access necessary healthcare during visits to Norway using their UK passport, until such a time as a new agreement is in place.

For UK S1 holders living in the EU, the CRA Ehic or Ghic is not intended for healthcare on visits to the UK, however whereas UK state pensioners living in France with a registered UK-issued S1 before 2021 can access free healthcare in the UK, UK state pensioners moving to France after January 1, 2021 may be charged for certain services.

However, in the UK no one is charged for primary care such as GP visits, or treatment as an outpatient in A&E.

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Post-Brexit travel healthcare: What is a UK 'CRA' Ehic card? - The Connexion