With the summer holidays just around the corner, new research* has exposed worrying disparities between the perceived and the real costs of holiday healthcare, as well as confusion over what the EHIC card actually entitles travellers to. In light of the findings, HolidayExtras.com warns that many holidaymakers are potentially exposing themselves to crippling financial costs in the event of an accident or illness while away.
The research revealed alarming shortfalls when comparing 2,000 Brits' perceived cost of treating specific medical emergencies in popular tourist destinations against the actual costs of treating those emergencies. When asked to predict the cost of medical treatment for a heart attack and repatriation to the UK from Spain, those polled estimated the cost to be over £10,000 lower than the reality; an estimated average cost of £14,278 against an actual average cost of £25,000. A worrying statistic when treatment and doctor-escorted repatriation following a heart attack is the most common medical treatment needed by Brits abroad in their five most visited countries**. Similarly, those surveyed thought the cost of treatment for a fractured hip and travel back to the UK to be just under £14,000, compared to an actual cost of £35,000 - a discrepancy of over £21,000.
The disparities are even larger for non-European countries. For treatments in the USA, respondents thought the costs to treat the two medical emergencies to be £26,000 and £24,000 respectively - some £54,000 and £65,000 under what the actual costs are estimated to be.
Medical costs closer to home also proved difficult for Brits to anticipate, with the average estimate to treat a heart attack and travel home from Ireland more than £4,000 under-valued, and the cost of treatment and travel home following a hip fracture predicted to be less than half the actual cost; £25,000. Overall, it appears that Britons are underestimating the cost of healthcare by between two and three fold.
The study, run in conjunction with Healix Insurance Services Ltd., revealed that over half (52%) of those polled don't purchase travel insurance every time they go away and nearly one in 10 (8%) has never purchased travel insurance, revealing a perturbing scenario for many jetting off abroad.
