Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-17-Speech-2-251"
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"en.20060117.21.2-251"2
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".
Article 23 of the proposal for a directive on services in the internal market does, as the honourable Member says in her question, codify existing rights to patient mobility. The case law of the Court of Justice has established that, subject to certain conditions, patients have the right to have the cost of healthcare received in other Member States assumed by the social security system in their own Member State. Patients are, without prior authorisation, entitled to get reimbursement for non-hospital care received in other Member States. For hospital care, prior authorisation may be required before a patient can go abroad to receive health care. Authorisations must be granted when the necessary care cannot be given in the patient’s Member State within a medically justifiable time limit.
Before the proposal for a services directive was tabled, the Commission carried out a study on the implementation of the rights of patients in the Member States. The conclusion was that ‘European citizens are encountering unjustified or disproportionate obstacles when they apply for reimbursement, from their Member State of residence, of costs for non-hospital treatment incurred in another Member State, or for authorisation for assumption of the costs in the case of hospital treatment’.
For an individual citizen, the right to receive treatment in other Member States and to have the cost covered by his or her own social security system is probably one of the most important benefits of the internal market. These are the reasons for the Commission to propose the inclusion of health services in the scope of the services directive and for proposing a specific provision on the assumption of health care costs incurred in other Member States.
The Commission has also been actively involved in the work of the high-level group on cross-border healthcare and patient mobility with a view to establishing how best the framework for guaranteeing and promoting patient rights in the single market can be developed.
This work has shown the clear benefits of cooperation between Member States on health and healthcare related issues, of which the reimbursement of costs is just one aspect. A number of Member States are concerned about the effects cross-border care and patient mobility may have on their national health budgets.
In the absence of a clear legal framework, we will continue to be confronted with developing ECJ case law. Pending the vote in this House on the first reading of the proposed services directive, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the position on certain articles, but I can confirm that where Member States impose disproportionate or unjustified restrictions, the Commission will act, including by launching infringement procedures."@en1
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