EUROPEAN HEALTH CARE CARD

[sceaminmonkey]

so I recently went to japan and got sick during my stay and ended up in the hospital. It got me thinking because I plan on staying with my friend in the UK, am I covered while visiting in an EU country as an italian citizen? Do I need an european health card as the EU portal website says? It was such a pain in the butt to deal with administrative crap while in japan and I hope should I need emergency care that it would be easier in the EU. Any thoughts?