Brussels, 28/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 28 February, the EU Council of Ministers approved the European Parliament's amendments on a draft directive which seeks to facilitate access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare and promote cooperation on healthcare between member states (see EUROPE 10298, on the EP vote of 19 January). The Austrian, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian delegations voted against and the Slovak delegation abstained.
The European Parliament amendments reflect a second-reading-compromise reached between the Belgian Presidency and representatives of the European Parliament in an informal trialogue on 15 December 2010 (see EUROPE 10281). In line with Article 294 of the Lisbon Treaty the cross-border healthcare directive has now been adopted. Member states will have 30 months to transpose the directive's provision into national legislation.
The new directive provides clarity about the rights of patients who seek healthcare in another member state and supplements the rights that patients already have at EU level through the legislation on the coordination of social security schemes (Regulation 883/04). It meets the Council's wish to fully respect the case law of the European Court of Justice on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare while preserving member states' rights to organise their own healthcare systems.
The new directive contains the following provisions: - as a general rule, patients will be allowed to receive healthcare in another member state and be reimbursed up to the level of costs that would have been assumed by the member state of affiliation, if this healthcare had been provided there; - instead of reimbursing the patient, member states of affiliation may also decide to pay the healthcare provider directly; - for overriding reasons of general interest, a member state of affiliation may limit the application of the rules on reimbursement for cross-border healthcare; - member states may introduce a system of prior authorisation to manage the possible outflow of patients: this is, however, limited to healthcare that is subject to planning requirements, such as hospital care and healthcare that involves highly specialised and cost-intensive medical infrastructure or equipment; - member states will have to establish national contact points that must provide patients with information about their rights and entitlements and practical aspects of receiving cross border healthcare, e.g. information about healthcare providers, quality and safety, accessibility of hospitals for persons with disabilities, to enable patients to make an informed choice; - cooperation between member states in the field of healthcare has been strengthened, e.g. in the field of e-health and rare diseases. Sales of medicinal products and medical devices on the internet, long-term care services provided in residential homes and the access and allocation of organs for the purpose of transplantation fall outside the scope of the directive. (L.C./transl.rt)