Davis wins free healthcare guarantee for British expats

MILLIONS of British citizens living in the EU will have their right to free healthcare protected.

Following talks in Brussels, the European Union has agreed to allow them to retain access to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

The card allows them to receive healthcare in the country they live in as well as other member states from the date of Brexit.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said citizens from the other 2 European Union states would also get the same benefits in the UK.

He added: ‘Both sides have agreed that we should at least protect existing healthcare rights and arrangements for EU2 citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU.

‘That is good news, for example, for British pensioners in the EU.

‘It means that they will continue to have their healthcare arrangements protected both where they live and – when they travel to another member state – to be able to use an EHIC card.’ The EHIC card is accepted by 31 members of the European Economic Area, Switzerland and Australia.

However, the EU has not agreed to the UK’s demand for EHIC rights to apply to Britons who move to EU countries after Brexit.

Nor would it agree to continue the current scheme that grants free healthcare for British tourists visiting EU countries. It said that the benefit was conditional on EU membership.

British officials said: ‘We were clear that we think in principle that on the point of exit the EHIC scheme should be retained.’

The agreement was hailed as an example of ‘concrete progress’ by Mr Davis and is one of the few deals struck so far in the separation talks.

The British negotiating team said the agreement made this week was ‘significant progress and something that matters to a number of people’.