If you need to see a doctor or go to a hospital in one of these countries, please present your EHIC as early as possible. Due to international agreements, contracted doctors and hospitals in these countries are obligated to accept your EHIC and treat you as if you were a national patient. For doctors and hospitals that do not have a contract with the a social insurance institution of the host country, you will initially have to pay the bill yourself, similar to seeing a non-contracted doctor or going to a private hospital in Austria.