Exchange of letters on UK-Ireland reciprocal healthcare arrangements
Exchange of letters between the UK and Ireland to clarify UK-Ireland reciprocal healthcare arrangements in light of overlapping agreements.
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This exchange of letters was carried out on 26 November 2021 between officials at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the UK and Ireland’s Department of Health to clarify the interactions between 2 agreements which provide for overlapping reciprocal healthcare measures between the UK and Ireland:
- the 2020 UK/EU and EAEC: Trade and Cooperation Agreement (UK-EU TCA)
- the 2020 UK-Ireland Memorandum of Understanding on Common Travel Area arrangements between the UK/Northern Ireland and Ireland (UK-Ireland CTA healthcare MoU)
In the exchange of letters, the UK and Ireland agree for the UK-EU TCA to take precedence except in a few select cases outlined below where the UK-Ireland CTA healthcare MoU applies.
The provisions applied from the UK-Ireland CTA healthcare MoU are largely a continuation of arrangements in place before the UK’s exit from the EU. UK-Ireland CTA healthcare MoU arrangements that the UK and Ireland governments agreed to apply are:
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accepting an extended list of eligibility documentation beyond the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) between the UK and Ireland
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continuing cross-border ambulance cooperation
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frontier workers who are resident in the UK and employed in Ireland having access to means-tested ‘full eligibility’ status in Ireland (‘full eligibility’ status broadly gives individuals access to cheaper, and often free, healthcare in Ireland)
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British and Irish citizens who are frontier workers resident in Ireland having access to assisted reproduction services (for example, IVF) in the health commissioning area where they are employed in the UK
The letters exchanged between the UK and Ireland on reciprocal healthcare in the CTA also reiterate that the relevant reciprocal healthcare provisions in the UK-Ireland CTA healthcare MoU would apply in the event that there is any reduction in the reciprocal healthcare provisions between the UK and Ireland in the UK-EU TCA.