Health Insurance in the United Kingdom
The UK has its own publicly-funded health service: the National Health Service, or NHS. The NHS provides medical care free of charge for UK residents, without the need to purchase health insurance. When you earn money in the UK, you will be charged taxes: a percentage of these taxes go towards paying for the NHS. If you are unemployed, young or elderly, you will not pay taxes but are still entitled to treatment; the taxes of those in employment go towards covering the cost of treatment for all.
When you are registered as a UK citizen, you will be issued with a European Health Insurance Card, the EHIC. This blue plastic card, the same size as a credit card, entitles you to health care when temporarily abroad in another EU* or EEA** member country, or Switzerland. It proves that you are a UK resident, and entitled to medical care. You do not have to pay for this card: you are automatically entitled to health care as a UK resident.
It is possible to purchase additional cover for your health: private health insurance is available from major insurers such as BUPA. Private health insurance entitles you to certain privileges if you become ill: waiting times for diagnostic procedures and for treatment tend to be shorter, and you may be entitled to a single room in hospital rather than a bed in a ward. You will be required to pay for private health insurance cover however, and premiums can be fairly expensive.
For details of the UK's health system and insurance options, see:
* The European Union represents the political and economic unification of its twenty-seven member states. Each member must abide by certain rules and conditions to continue to qualify as an EU state. The twenty-seven member states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
** The European Economic Area represents the freedom of movement and agreement to certain social policies undertaken by its thirty member states. These are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
