>>>>I'm confused. English receive free medical care in Belgium?
>>>
>>>It's a reciprocal EU thing. I'm not sure of the mechanism in Belgium but in France a Brit would need to pay up front for a doctor (as indeed the French do), then claim back c. 75% froom the Social Security in the UK. I'm not sure if tghe French themselves have to pay that 25%.
>>>
>>>BTW as far as I know, if you came to the UK, cracked your head open, then you would be treated free of charge. There are no questions of who can pay at triage.
>>
>>Similar here. Crack your head open, they have to treat you, but then will hound you forevermore.
>
>There have been stories (I don't know if they're true) of having patients bounced or re-routed to somewhere else if they are found to be uninsured. Any truth to it?

I have heard those stories too. Not sure about the facts, but there is one semi-private hospital here that some claim does the ER intake on patients, then has them transferred almost immediately to a county hospital for their inpatient care if their insurance is an issue.