Luxembourg, 25/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - The full potential of the cross-border healthcare directive is not yet being exploited and member states should do more to inform patients of the options now available to them for finding suitable healthcare outside their country of residence.
This was the assessment made by Luxembourg's health minister, Lydia Mutsch, and Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis after a roundtable discussion with health ministers at a Health Council in Luxembourg on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September.
Mutsch said that each European Union citizen is a potential patient who will demand suitable, high-quality healthcare in good time and in some cases, such healthcare is found outside the country. Explaining that the directive has now been transposed virtually everywhere in the EU (bar a few shortcomings in Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovenia) and the European Commission's assessment report on application of the directive was broadly positive (see EUROPE 11382), Commissioner Andriukaitis regretted that few patients have taken advantage of their rights, only one in ten in fact. There are problems with the contact points in the member states (some of which provide poor quality information) and reimbursement of costs (some countries reimburse a lower than expected percentage of the costs). Efforts are required to encourage patients to travel abroad for treatment, added Mutsch, calling for a regular monitoring of application of the directive. She explained that knowing the details of patients travelling for treatment abroad and why they opt for this treatment helps select the right policy options. In order to provide equal access to high-quality healthcare for citizens and enhance patient mobility, the ministers stressed the importance of closer cooperation on rare diseases and e-health, along with providing patients with information. (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)