Glossary
EHIC (European Health Insurance Card)
A free card that lets a person insured under French Social Security access public healthcare in another European Union country (or equivalent), on the same terms as a local insured person, during a temporary stay.
The EHIC is requested free of charge before departure, from one’s French health insurance fund. It only covers temporary stays (studies, tourism, short assignments): settling permanently in another European Union country requires switching to full local affiliation, in some cases via the S1 form for a retiree.
The EHIC covers neither medical repatriation nor planned care abroad — two points that are frequently overlooked and justify supplementary insurance even for a stay covered by the EHIC.
Example
A French student on Erasmus in Portugal can use their EHIC for basic public care during their stay, but supplementary insurance is still recommended for repatriation.
Also searched as: European Health Insurance Card · CESD (local name in Portugal)
To go further: See a real-world example: the Portugal page