EU healthcare rights set out

THE RIGHT of patients in the EU to go abroad for medical treatment has been enshrined in EU law.

The new law, passed in a final vote in the European Parliament, sets out that people have the right to have treatment in another country and to be reimbursed up to the usual rate by their home one as long as it is a treatment that their own country also provides.

This right has already been established in a series of judgments by the European Court of Justice, which has also previously agreed that prior authorisation from the home country is not required for some simpler procedures. However the new directive, which is expected to become operational in France in two years’ time, provides a clearer framework so patients know their rights.

It does not apply to emergency healthcare while on a visit abroad, which is covered by the European Health Insurance Card.

French MEP Françoise Grosstête said: “This directive will finally allow us to clarify patients' rights, which were, until now, totally blurry.”

The directive says prior authorisation from the French health service is needed only in more complicated cases where the treatment is of a very expensive kind or will require hospitalisation. Even then, permission can be refused only in a limited number of cases, such as if the treatment is quickly and easily available in France or there are doubts about the qualifications of the foreign doctor the patient plans to use. Where a treatment is of a kind requiring authorisation, national health systems will be able to take a “reasonable time” to reply.

Each country will have to set up a national contact point where people can get information on their cross-border healthcare rights, such as foreign health providers, reimbursement procedures and when authorisation is needed. The directive also calls for more international compatibility on sharing of patient information and for recognition of prescriptions between member states.

The directive is expected to be especially helpful to people with rare conditions or who live close to borders and is not expected to lead to a rush of “health tourism”, notably because reimbursements are capped at the usual home country rates and travel costs are not reimbursed. However a Dutch MEP, Kartika Liotard, has said access to healthcare for people in poorer countries may be adversely affected by travellers from richer countries using their services. Other critics of the new framework have said the “reasonable” wait for authorisation is too vague.

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