DECISION No S2
of 12 June 2009
concerning the technical specifications of the European Health Insurance Card
(Text of relevance to the EEA and to the EC/Switzerland Agreement)
ANNEX I
Technical provisions concerning the design of the European Health Insurance Card
1. INTRODUCTION
2. NORMATIVE REFERENCE
Reference |
Document Title/Description |
Issuing date |
|
ISO 3166-1 |
Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes |
1997 |
|
ISO/IEC 7810 |
Identification cards – Physical characteristics |
1995 |
|
ISO/IEC 7816 |
Identification cards – Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts |
|
|
|
1998 |
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|
1999 |
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ISO 8859 series |
8-bit single-byte coded graphic character sets Part 1 – 4: Latin alphabet Nos 1 to 4 |
1998 |
|
EN 1867 |
Machine readable cards – Health care application – Numbering system and registration procedure for issuer identifiers |
1997 |
3. SPECIFICATIONS
3.1.
Definitions
3.2.
Overall structure
3.2.1.
European health insurance card: front side of the card
(a) Card without chip
(b) Chip card
3.2.2.
European Health Insurance Card: reverse side of the card
(c) With magnetic strip
(d) Without magnetic strip
3.3.
Background and graphical elements
3.3.1.
Colours of the background
3.3.2.
European mark
3.3.3.
Data field
3.3.4.
Free area
3.4.
Predefined data elements
3.4.1.
Card name
Field Name |
Card name |
Description |
The common name of the card as decided by the Administrative Commission in Decision No 190. |
Position |
When on the front side, below the horizontal guiding line ‘d’, and on the right of the vertical guiding line ‘a’, When on the reverse side, symmetrically located along the ‘h’ vertical axis and centred in the area between the magnetic stripe and the top edge of the card |
Values |
The value ‘European health insurance card’ is written in a European Union official language. |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in capital and regular style, 7 point size when on the front side and 6 point size when on the reverse side, white, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. |
Length |
40 characters |
Remark |
The precise wording of the name in the language of the issuing Member State is a Member State responsibility only. |
3.4.2.
Caption
Field Name |
Caption |
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Description |
The caption identifies the meaning of a data field. |
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Position |
On the top of each of the personal data fields Left alignment for the captions on the left side of the card and right alignment for the captions on the right side of the card. |
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Values |
The values are written in a European Union official language and are set as follows (using English as the base text):
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Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 5 point size, white, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Line spacing of 2 points plus character size. |
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Length |
As needed by each of the above fixed values |
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Remark |
Each caption is unambiguously identified by a number, in order to allow card superposition in different languages. The precise wording of the caption values in the language of the issuing Member State is a Member State responsibility only. |
3.4.3.
Issuing state
Field Name |
Issuing state ID number |
Description |
Identification code of the card issuer’s state. |
Position |
Field 2: Centrally positioned within the European mark with a white square 4 mm high and 4 mm wide. |
Values |
The 2 digit ISO country code (ISO 3166-1) |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in capital and regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. |
Length |
2 characters. |
Remark |
The code ‘UK’ will be used instead of ‘GB’, the standard ISO code for United Kingdom. One single code will be used for each Member State. |
3.5.
Personal data elements
3.5.1.
Blank Space (former form identifier)
Field Name |
Blank Space |
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Description |
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Position |
Field 1:
In both situations, it is positioned within a white rectangle 4 mm high and 10 mm wide. |
3.5.2.
Card holder related data elements
Field Name |
Name of card holder |
Description |
The surname of the card holder as used in the issuing Member State |
Position |
Field 3 |
Values |
— |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in capital and regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Aligned to the left border. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size |
Length |
Up to 40 characters |
Remark |
The surname field may include titles, prefix or any other name supplement or prefix. |
Field Name |
Given name(s) or middle name(s) of card holder |
Description |
The first (and middle) name(s) of the card holder as used in the issuing Member State. |
Position |
Field 4 |
Values |
— |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in capital and regular style, 7 point size, black, character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Aligned to the left side. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size |
Length |
Up to 35 characters |
Remark |
The given name field may include initial(s) |
Field Name |
Date of birth |
Description |
The date of birth of the card holder as used in the issuing Member State |
Position |
Field 5 |
Values |
DD/MM/YYYY, where D stands for Day, M for Month and Y for Year |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 7 point size, black, character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Aligned to the left side when on the front side of the card, but to the right when on the reverse one. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size |
Length |
10 characters, including a slash between each group. |
Remark |
— |
Field Name |
Personal identification number of card holder |
Description |
The personal identification number detail used by the issuing Member State. |
Position |
Field 6 |
Values |
See applicable Personal identification number |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Aligned to the right border when on the front side of the card, but to the left when on the reverse one. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size |
Length |
Up to 20 characters for the ID code. |
Remark |
The personal identification number of the card holder or, when no such number exists, the number of the insured person from whom the rights of the card holder derive. Personal attributes, such as gender, status of family member, cannot be assigned a dedicated field on the card. They can, however, be included within the personal identification number. |
3.5.3.
Competent institution related data elements
Field Name |
Name of the institution |
Description |
The ‘institution’ is the competent institution of insurance. |
Position |
Field 7, part 1 |
Values |
The acronym of the institution is provided instead of the full name. |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in capital and regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Field 7 is aligned to the right border and Part 1 is to the right of Part 2. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size. |
Length |
Up to 15 characters Two spaces and a hyphen will separate part 1 from part 2 The length of this part can be extended as far as the length of part 2 can be reduced. |
Remark |
The acronym is provided as a means to detect a possible data capture problem in the identification code of the institution (Field 7, part 2) and thus ensure quality control of the identification number of the institution. The full name of the institution will be provided on the basis of the acronym or the identification code of the institution e.g. by an on-line tool available on the Internet. No full stop will be used in the acronym |
Field Name |
Identification number of the institution |
Description |
Identification code awarded nationally to the ‘institution’, viz. the competent institution of insurance. |
Position |
Field 7, part 2 |
Values |
See national code list of competent institutions |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Field 7 is aligned to the right border and Part 2 is to the left of Part 1. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size. |
Length |
Between 4 and 10 characters. |
Remark |
Complementary up-to-date and historical information which may be required for communicating with the institution could be made available on the Internet thanks to a knowledge centre tool. The competent institution may be different from the liaison body or the organisation in charge of the cross-border reimbursement as well as from the organisation in charge of technically issuing the European health insurance card. This information could also be made available on the Internet thanks to a knowledge centre tool. |
3.5.4.
Card related data elements
Field Name |
Logical identification number of the card |
Description |
Logical individual number aiming at uniquely identifying the card and assigned to each card by the card issuer. It is made up of two parts, the issuer identifier number and the serial number of the card. |
Position |
Field 8 |
Values |
The first 10 characters identify the card issuer in compliance with the standard EN 1867 of 1997 The last 10 digits constitute the unique serial number |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size |
Length |
20 characters (with leading 0 as needed in the 10 digits used for the unique serial number of the card). |
Remark |
For assigning an issuer identifier number, an ad hoc registration procedure may be used, instead of the official one as defined in the standard EN 1867, in the Member States which issue European health insurance cards without an electronic component. This logical card ID number must enable the information carried by the card to be checked against the information held by the issuing organisation for the same logical number, for example in order to reduce the risk of fraud or to identify errors in data entry when processing the information of the card for claim reimbursement purposes. |
Field Name |
Expiry date |
Description |
End date of the entitlement to receive health care during a temporary stay in a Member State other than the insuring Member State. |
Position |
Field 9 |
Values |
DD/MM/YYYY, where D stands for Day, M for Month and Y for Year |
Format |
Font ‘Verdana True Type’ or equivalent, in regular style, 7 point size, black, with character width compressed to 90 % of normal size and ‘normal’ position and spacing of characters. Aligned to the right border. Line spacing of 3 points plus character size. |
Length |
10 characters, including a slash between each group. |
Remark |
A Member State will be entitled to claim reimbursement for health care costs provided during the validity period of the card, although the entitlement period may be different from the validity period of the card. |