Rules eased on access to health care abroad
Cross-border care has been available in principle for more than a decade, but national health departments have made it very difficult to obtain in many instances.
As a result, patients and governments took a raft of cases to the European Court of Justice over the past 12 years to define what people were entitled to.
Currently, just about 1% of people receiving medical treatment in the EU receive it cross-border, at a cost annually of €10 billion.
The latest law, held up for more than two years as national governments again fought over it with Brussels, tries to streamline the rules.
Health Commissioner John Dalli says it will increase the cross-border bill by just €30 million.
Under the provisions that will come into force in 2013, people are entitled to choose to be treated in hospital in another EU country for rare conditions and when they need specialist treatment that is best found cross-border.
“This is a huge boost to Irish patients,” said Labour MEP Nessa Childers.
People living near a border can also choose to be treated in the adjoining state if that is where their nearest hospital is located or travel to a country where their close family members live.
They can be refused if treatment can be provided at home quickly or if there are doubts about the qualifications of the doctors in the hospital the patient intends to travel to.
Patients must seek prior authorisation from their health authority if the treatment is very expensive or requires a hospital stay.
The law says they must receive a reply within a “reasonable time,” which will be defined by the national authority. Patient and consumer bodies wanted this to be more specific — such as within 15 days — but national governments rejected this.
If a patient gets the agreement, they will be reimbursed the cost, but this will be limited to what the treatment would cost in their home country, so as to discourage “health tourism” and spiralling health costs.
Fine Gael MEP Máiréad McGuinness gave the new rules a cautious welcome, saying it should force countries to improve their services to avoid having to pay for patients going abroad.
“People prefer to be treated close to home, which is why there are protests over hospital closures. That said, this directive is welcome in that if people use the rights it afford them, member states will be obliged to pay for healthcare for those on long waiting lists.”
The legislation also puts in place arrangements to improve communications between health providers in the different countries, ensuring that all relevant patient records are given to those providing treatment cross-border and reinforcing data protection.
There are also provisions to ensure that prescriptions for medicines can be read in each country as currently the same drugs can have different names and be provided in different strengths.
Each country must have a national contact point to give the public information about health providers, reimbursement procedures and clarify when prior authorisation.
