Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (CSI) Cover And The NHS

• Published date: 05 May 2022
• Subject Matter: Insurance, Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Immigration, Insurance Laws and Products, General Immigration
• Law Firm: Richmond Chambers Immigration Barristers
• Author: Mr Alex Papasotiriou

The preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in C-247/20 VI v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs concerns the interpretation of EU law in relation to the requirement of comprehensive sickness insurance cover ("CSI") in the host Member State.

Dispute in the main proceedings

The dispute in the main proceedings concerned a family residing in Northern Ireland: VI and her husband, Pakistani nationals, and their four children. Their son, who has Irish nationality, was born in Northern Ireland in 2004. The dispute involved VI's right to receive Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit during two particular periods, which in turn depended on VI's right of residence in the UK during these periods. HMRC's position was that VI had no right of residence as she was not covered by CSI during those periods and therefore she was not entitled to these funds.

Questions referred for a preliminary ruling

The questions referred by the referring court concerned the interpretation of provisions of UK domestic law and the compatibility of provisions of UK domestic law with EU law, on neither of which the Court has jurisdiction to rule. The Court confirmed that it has jurisdiction to provide the national court with all the guidance as to the interpretation of EU law necessary to enable that court to determine whether those national rules are compatible with EU law and to determine the case before it. Having found that the referring court sought to ascertain the extent to which the requirement to have CSI in the host Member State was applicable to VI and her son during the relevant periods and, if necessary, whether the insurance cover which they had was sufficient to satisfy that requirement, the Court reformulated the first two questions.

The referring court was, essentially, asking whether EU law must be interpreted as requiring a Union citizen child and the parent who is a primary carer of that child to have CSI:

1. After having acquired a right of permanent residence in the host State, in order to retain their right of residence; and
2. Prior to acquiring a right of permanent residence in the host State.

The thirst question concerned, not the scope of the requirement to have CSI, but how that requirement could be met. Particularly, whether the Common Travel Area reciprocal arrangements in place regarding Health Insurance cover between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland constituted CSI.

The Court found the third question to be inadmissible. The request for a preliminary ruling as regards that question did not satisfy the first and last requirements of Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure:

In...