EU to Help Patients seek Health Treatment Abroad

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – Health patients in the European Union should have the right to be reimbursed by their national authorities for treatment taken anywhere in the bloc, the EU’s top health official said on Tuesday.

Healthcare is mainly a domestic issue in the EU. But the bloc’s top court, the European Court of Justice, has ruled that the EU’s treaty allows for the free movement of people seeking health services across the 25 member states.

The European Commission said it will propose new EU rules to clarify the rights patients have outside their home state.

"The healthcare that patients need is sometimes best provided in another EU country," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told reporters.

Only about 1 percent of patients obtain treatment outside their home state but the number is set to grow.

Patients would only be reimbursed for treatment that is also available at home, Kyprianou said, addressing concerns about "health tourists" who seek quicker or better treatment in another EU state.

The EU’s top court ruled in May that British patients who travel abroad for treatment must be reimbursed if they faced an "undue delay" for treatment in Britain.

Healthcare is a politically charged issue, especially when it involves moves to increase competition as services are typically funded by governments and are huge employers.

The sector was removed earlier this year from the scope of new EU rules to open up services to cross-border competition, to the dismay of liberal states and the relief of others.

"It’s up to member states to organize and finance health systems as they wish and that will remain so," Kyprianou said.

Member states and the EU parliament have signaled some support for such citizen-friendly measures, he added.

The EU’s executive Commission agreed on Tuesday on the broad thrust of a consultation paper to be published at the end of September, with the aim of tabling proposals in 2007 for member states and the European Parliament to adopt.

It will look at which health authority is responsible for supervising treatment received abroad, continuity of care for patients after returning home and patients’ rights such as compensation if treatments go wrong.

The Commission will consult on mobility of services, such as if a surgeon wants to work in another state for a short period, or a health company wants to offer services in different states.

It also said coordination between healthcare services in different states could bring economies of scale.