Health agreements
Jersey has reciprocal health agreements with a small number of countries. These are usually part of wider Social Security reciprocal agreements negotiated by the UK government.
Their intention is to cover temporary visitors, particularly those on holiday. Each agreement provides some free health care, or health care at a lower cost, if you are taken ill. Generally, only the cost of urgent or emergency treatment is covered. Therefore, agreements cannot take the place of health travel insurance and you are advised to have insurance cover to meet the cost of any health care costs when travelling outside Jersey.
The agreements allow visitors to a country to be treated the same as a resident in that country. If a resident pays for a particular treatment, so will the visitor.
Most agreements only cover visitors for a limited period. This is often for temporary stays of up to three or six months and not if you are living or working in the other country. The host country will interpret the agreement according to their own policies and will decide what they consider to be emergency or urgent treatment. The agreements do not apply if you travel to the country deliberately seeking medical treatment.
If you live in Jersey and are taken ill while visiting another country, you cannot claim a refund for medical bills from the States of Jersey.
The cost of bringing a sick person back to Jersey (repatriation) is never covered under any of the health agreements. You will always need to pay for this yourself so check that your insurance covers this.
To find out more about the health agreements with other countries, contact the Customer Hub on +44 (0) 1534 444444.
UK and Jersey health agreement
Countries with reciprocal health agreements
These countries have reciprocal health agreements:
Countries with reciprocal health agreements table
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