I run an international project here in Institut Roquetes and we take the students abroad twice a year.  I was surprised to discover on the last trip that the EU health card the students were issued with only had a life of two months.  It would appear that this is now the norm for these cards, though God knows why, and is not something cooked up just for EU residents.

The next time I go for one, my yearly one just ran out, I will ask for reasons and so on and post them here.