Certificates are as reliable as cards
During this turbulent period, a large number of people contact health insurance funds to obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Health insurance funds would like to remind that the residents of our country that are covered by the Compulsory Health Insurance (CHI) need these cards only when they travel to other European countries. Moreover, there is a very convenient option of downloading the certificate, which is essentially the same as the EHIC.
Experts of Population Service Division (PSD) of Panevėžys Territorial Health Insurance Fund (THIF) noted that during the pandemic the Health Insurance Fund has enabled the CHI-covered residents to download a certificate, which is a temporary replacement of the EHIC, to their mobile devices. If necessary, certificate holders travelling to a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area (Lichtenstein, Iceland, Norway), also Switzerland and the United Kingdom, would be provided with free emergency medical assistance at treatment facilities, covered by the national health insurance.
According to Sigita Paulauskienė, Head of Panevėžys THIF PSD, CHI-covered residents, planning their trip can log on to the Information System of the National Health Insurance Fund and generate the certificates, temporarily replacing the EHIC, for themselves and their family members on their own. For identification purposes, they need to log on via the E-Government Gateway. The certificate is valid until the last day of the current month; thus residents need to generate a new one the following month.
According to the Head of Panevėžys THIF PSD, residents can also generate and download a certificate to a smart phone or computer, when they forget to pick up their EHIC upon leaving or the card is lost while travelling and the traveller is in urgent need of medical assistance at a European treatment facility. If someone has no possibility to access the Electronic Government Gateway, order the certificate and download it to their device, they can fill in an e-form and submit it to the THIF or address the health insurance facility of the country that they're visiting. This institution will contact the THIF of the Republic of Lithuania, based on the person's place of residence, with a request to send a EHIC replacement certificate. Requests for a certificate can also be submitted by an employer in cases, when the insured person cannot reasonably do so himself/herself.
Both the EHIC and the certificate are issued to CHI-covered Lithuanian residents free of charge. With these documents, emergency medical assistance costs, incurred in European countries, will be partially or fully covered by the Health Insurance Fund. This means that CHI-covered Lithuanians that have been injured or fell ill abroad, may be sure that they will receive medical assistance to the scope established in that country and paid for according to their procedures and rates, upon submitting the certificate.
It's important to remember that if a person visiting European Union countries with no EHIC or a replacement certificate will have to cover the emergency medical assistance provided at their own cost. However, travellers can address their local THIF for a reimbursement and submit payment and medical documents as proof upon their return to Lithuania.
More information for travellers is available here.
Detailed video instructions on downloading the certificate are available here.
Panevėžys Territorial Health Insurance Fund
(Piktochart photo)
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Last updated: 07-04-2022
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