Am I covered for medical care if I am working in the UK on an EEA Family Permit

Hi all-

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

I am trying to clarify whether my husband and I will be covered by National Health or whether we/my company need to purchase private insurance. I have read several threads, but am still not sure...

Here's the situation:

My husband is a German citizen
I am a US citizen
We will be relocating to the UK using an EEA Family permit.
My husband (EU citizen) is self-employed.
I will be working for a startup that doesn't provide anything beyond  NIH (if that's what it's called).

Am I covered because I'm working, even though I am only the spouse?
Is my husband covered or not (maybe not since he's not working in the UK per se)?

Would the situation be any different if my company sponsored a tier 1 visa for me (which may be an option)?

Any help would be appreciated! 

Aline

Yes, you're covered.

I came in on an EEA Family Permit and was able to register at my local GP right away. Same thing for my husband, a French citizen. You shouldn't have any problems.

vtcarter6 - was your husband working in the UK?  That's been the only potential issue that I've seen referred to - if the EU citizen isn't working in the UK (my hubby is self-employed), then there might be an issue....

Thanks!
Aline

Hi Aline,
Yes, my husband is working in the UK. But I think that self-employed EEA citizens have exactly the same status as those who are working for a UK employer:

"If you are an EEA national and you want to live in the UK for more than three months, you must be a 'qualified person'. A qualified person means an EEA national who is in the UK as:
a jobseeker
a worker
a self-employed person
a self-sufficient person (someone who can support themselves financially) or
a student.
You do not need a work permit to work in the UK but you may need to register as a worker under the Worker Registration Scheme. There are also separate requirements for Bulgarian and Romanian workers (see below)."

You probably could contact the NHS directly with your question and that way have a written response by email for future reference (and to show your GP when you register), but I really don't think you'd have any problem being covered. If you do contact the NHS, you might want to also ask them to verify that there is no 6-month residency rule before you can register with the GP. This is the case, but a lot of GPs don't know it.