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Access to cross-border health care in the EU

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Subido el 27 de julio de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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With more and more people travelling within the EU, what happens if a European citizen needs healthcare in another Member State, and especially, what about the cost? The TV report "Access to cross-border health care in the EU" shows how the issue of patient mobility is crucial in specific cases such as the urgent need for a treatment of rare diseases. A French patient is forced to receive treatment for Gorham disease in Spain, where there is a specialist of this rare disease and he can have a treatment in a shorter timeframe than in his home country. It also shows recent European Court judgements on the cross-border movement of patients: The case of a British national who had to wait for one year to have an operation in the UK to heal the arthritis she suffered in both legs. Despite the refusal of the British health authorities, she travelled to France where her operation could be provided sooner. As the reimbursement of her medical expenses was refused, she took her case to the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which decided in favour of free circulation, reflecting the principle of patient mobility. The second case features a Luxembourg national, who needed a new pair of eyeglasses. With his practitioner’s prescription from Luxembourg, he went to Arlon in Belgium to purchase the glasses. After refusal of the reimbursement and long legal proceedings, the European Court of Justice decided in his favour and his medical insurance company had to reimburse him.

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With more and more people traveling within the EU, 00:00:00
what happens if a European citizen needs health care in another member state? 00:00:06
And especially, what about the cost? 00:00:10
The European Health Insurance Card covers the costs if you fall ill during a trip to another EU country. 00:00:12
Costs are also covered for patients who have been authorized by their national health system 00:00:18
to go to another member state for medical treatment. 00:00:23
But what happens if the authorization is not granted? 00:00:26
Let's consider the case of Yvonne Watts. 00:00:30
This resident of Bedford suffered from arthritis in both hips. 00:00:33
She would have had to wait a year for an operation in the United Kingdom. 00:00:37
Wracked by unbearable pain, she could wait no longer. 00:00:40
Despite the refusal of her health authorities, she traveled to France, 00:00:44
where her operation could be provided sooner. 00:00:48
When she returned, her claim for reimbursement of her medical expenses was refused. 00:00:51
After several appeals in British courts, her case went to the Court of Justice of the European Communities, 00:00:57
which decided in favor of free circulation, reflecting the principle of patient mobility. 00:01:02
Following this jurisprudence, the European Commission is acting to clarify 00:01:11
the right of European citizens to cross-border health care. 00:01:15
Patients want to have health care as close to home and as quickly as possible. 00:01:20
But sometimes the best way to provide that health care may be in another member state. 00:01:26
It may be that you live in a border region, 00:01:31
where the nearest hospital is just across the border in another country. 00:01:35
Or it may be that the care that you need is so specialized 00:01:39
that actually it's not available in your own member state and needs to be provided elsewhere. 00:01:43
The aim of this initiative is to make it easier for patients to have the health care that they need, 00:01:48
wherever it can best be provided within the European Union. 00:01:55
Another example illustrates the issues from free movement in the health sector. 00:01:59
Nicolas Decker, who lives in Luxembourg, needed a new pair of eyeglasses. 00:02:04
He took the prescription he received from his Luxembourg practitioner 00:02:09
and went to Arlon in Belgium to purchase his glasses from a Belgian optician. 00:02:13
Then I sent the bill to my medical insurance company in Luxembourg, 00:02:24
which, to my great astonishment, refused to pay. 00:02:28
They justified their refusal, stating that I should have requested prior authorization. 00:02:35
Now, in my mind, this constitutes a barrier to the free movement of goods throughout the Union. 00:02:40
Thus, in 1992, I launched a long series of legal proceedings. 00:02:50
And the case was finally judged by the European Court of Justice, 00:02:57
which, by an order in April 1998, decided in my favor. 00:03:02
The principle is thus acquired, but do all European citizens have this right? 00:03:10
The question, though, is exactly how can those rights be used in practice? 00:03:16
At the moment, there is a lot of uncertainty for patients, for health professionals, 00:03:21
and for people who are responsible for health systems about what community law means 00:03:26
for cross-border provision of health services. 00:03:31
This initiative is intended to address that uncertainty 00:03:34
and to provide a clear framework for patients to be able to have access to health care in other Member States 00:03:37
and for Member States themselves to be able to regulate and plan their systems effectively. 00:03:43
The principle of patient mobility is crucial in the case of patients suffering from rare diseases. 00:03:52
Hansel Schlucht lives in Nancy, in France. He suffers from Gorham disease. 00:03:58
This vascular disorder hinders bone mineralization and can lead to paraplegia. 00:04:03
After considerable research, the family consulted American specialists who defined a treatment protocol. 00:04:09
There was a problem, however. The American treatment is not authorized in France. 00:04:15
The American treatment consists of two medications. 00:04:21
One must be taken every day, and in France this treatment is not authorized on a daily basis 00:04:25
in the dosage that the American doctors prescribed. 00:04:32
Monique Schlucht thus looked elsewhere in Europe and found a solution in Spain. 00:04:40
In Madrid, Dr. López accepted to take Hansel's case 00:04:44
and to apply the protocol defined by the American specialists. 00:04:47
Hansel has been treated for the past eight months with this American protocol 00:04:53
based on anti-anxiety drugs intended to slow down lymphatic proliferation in the bones. 00:04:57
We hope this protocol will improve over time, 00:05:05
that the disease will go into regression, 00:05:09
and that we may even be able to envisage reconstructive surgery, 00:05:12
especially to the spine, which is Hansel's most seriously damaged organ. 00:05:17
In the case of Gorham disease, like other rare diseases, 00:05:25
why is it so hard to find treatment closer to home? 00:05:28
There are many factors involved. 00:05:31
The first is that it's hard to find a doctor with experience in this disease. 00:05:33
In fact, there aren't many, even all over Europe. 00:05:37
Then you need to find a doctor willing to take on a chronic patient requiring a lot of care 00:05:43
and who is backed by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. 00:05:48
Just one doctor alone can't manage. 00:05:51
As health care becomes more specialized and more expensive, 00:05:54
it can be difficult for every member state to afford to have every type of specialized care. 00:05:58
By making it easier for systems to cooperate with each other, 00:06:07
we can help all health systems to be able to provide the best care possible. 00:06:10
But what about the costs of this treatment? 00:06:17
In principle, the French social security should be able to take on the cost of treatment in Spain. 00:06:20
The American protocol is a fairly costly treatment, 00:06:28
and the cost of treatment in Spain is very high. 00:06:31
The cost of treatment in Spain is very high, 00:06:34
and the cost of treatment in Spain is very high. 00:06:37
The cost of treatment in Spain is very high, 00:06:40
and the cost of treatment in Spain is very high, 00:06:43
and our problem was that the social security in France didn't want to bear the cost of the treatment, 00:06:46
considering that in the long term, this treatment could have been given in France. 00:06:51
But for this type of disease, it's the short term that counts. 00:07:00
When Dr. Lopez agreed to treat Hansel, the decision was swift. 00:07:03
Hansel changed countries and moved in with his sister who lives and works in Barcelona. 00:07:07
The Spanish social security could thus cover part of the treatment. 00:07:12
The issue is that they sometimes find it difficult 00:07:16
to then have the reimbursement for that health care that they're entitled to. 00:07:19
This initiative will aim to provide additional clarity 00:07:25
to make it clearer for patients as to what health care they're entitled to 00:07:29
and how they can be reimbursed for it, 00:07:34
and clearer also for health system managers 00:07:36
who need to plan and regulate their own systems 00:07:39
to be able to provide health care not just to patients who move, 00:07:42
but patients who stay within their own member state. 00:07:45
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 00:07:49
includes the right to health care for all. 00:07:52
However, it's up to member states to decide how to implement this in practice. 00:07:55
This initiative respects that responsibility of the member states 00:08:01
and is not intended to harmonize health care systems. 00:08:05
It will also complement the existing coordination of national health care systems. 00:08:09
Rather, the objective of European action is to help ensure 00:08:16
that all European patients have access to safe, high-quality health care 00:08:20
within a reasonable time, 00:08:24
and that they know how the costs of that care will be covered. 00:08:26
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
The European Union
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
1499
Fecha:
27 de julio de 2007 - 13:06
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
European Commission
Duración:
08′ 33″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
448x336 píxeles
Tamaño:
43.90 MBytes

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