EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is due to unveil a bill specifying conditions under which patients can seek health care in other EU member countries on Wednesday (2 July). The proposal comes after a huge opposition from MEPs and some national capitals to Brussels' previous attempt to tackle the issue last December, and the commission signalling earlier this year it would not revisit the topic during its current mandate, set to expire in autumn 2009. Brussels is to take up again the controversial issue of patients' mobility across the EU ( But after a switch in personnel in the post of EU health commissioner, the new Cypriot delegate, Androula Vassiliou, decided to give it a try and address opponents' concerns in a new approach towards the controversial subject. Previously, the EU executive hewed close to several verdicts by the European Court of Justice, stating that the bloc's general principle of freedom to receive and provide services should apply equally to the health sector, while recognising "the specific character of these services."
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is due to unveil a bill specifying conditions under which patients can seek health care in other EU member countries on Wednesday (2 July).
The proposal comes after a huge opposition from MEPs and some national capitals to Brussels' previous attempt to tackle the issue last December, and the commission signalling earlier this year it would not revisit the topic during its current mandate, set to expire in autumn 2009.
Brussels is to take up again the controversial issue of patients' mobility across the EU (
But after a switch in personnel in the post of EU health commissioner, the new Cypriot delegate, Androula Vassiliou, decided to give it a try and address opponents' concerns in a new approach towards the controversial subject.
Previously, the EU executive hewed close to several verdicts by the European Court of Justice, stating that the bloc's general principle of freedom to receive and provide services should apply equally to the health sector, while recognising "the specific character of these services."
he Government warned today it would not finance a "health tourism" free-for-all under plans to give NHS patients rights to shop around Europe for the best and quickest medical treatment. Proposals from the European Commission would guarantee that the cost of treatment elsewhere in the EU is reimbursed by the patient's own national health scheme back home. The plan follows years of legal cases in which European court judges have ruled that freedom to cross EU borders for treatment should be a right for all. Today's draft law states that, as long as a treatment is covered under the patient's national healthcare system, he or she can opt to receive the treatment in another EU country and be reimbursed "without prior authorisation".
he Government warned today it would not finance a "health tourism" free-for-all under plans to give NHS patients rights to shop around Europe for the best and quickest medical treatment.
Proposals from the European Commission would guarantee that the cost of treatment elsewhere in the EU is reimbursed by the patient's own national health scheme back home.
The plan follows years of legal cases in which European court judges have ruled that freedom to cross EU borders for treatment should be a right for all.
Today's draft law states that, as long as a treatment is covered under the patient's national healthcare system, he or she can opt to receive the treatment in another EU country and be reimbursed "without prior authorisation".
How dare patients expect their rights! Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.
