EU allows healthcare treatment without prior authorization

PARIS - European Union citizens will be able to receive most healthcare treatment anywhere in the 27-nation bloc without getting prior authorization under a long-awaited draft law published yesterday.

Postponed for months because of fears in some countries of a large-scale increase in "health tourism," the plan could extend options available to EU citizens who live in countries where waiting lists are long.

But the entitlement applies only to procedures that are publicly funded in EU citizens' home nations and reimbursement would be only up to the amount the procedure would cost in that country.

The small print of the draft also allows countries to introduce a system under which their citizens abroad would require prior authorization before seeking in-hospital overnight treatment - and some limited outpatient treatment, such as cataract operations.

The measures, which have to be approved by governments and the European Parliament, apply to all citizens of the EU and could come into effect in 2010.

They were issued today as part of a social agenda package that also includes a proposal for a new directive to combat discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, age, sexual orientation, and disability.

Though sensitive in several member states, the health proposals would clarify the law for governments that have already been forced to offer reimbursement to patients who travel abroad because of judgments in the European Court of Justice.

Under the draft law, patients will have to pay up front for treatment, but will be entitled to reimbursement. The legislation says Europeans must be treated in a nondiscriminatory way and enjoy equal treatment in the country in which they receive healthcare.

"This proposal aims to clarify how patients can exercise their rights to cross-border healthcare, while at the same time providing legal certainty for member states and healthcare providers," the European health commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou, said in a statement.

According to a survey published last year by Eurobarometer, 4 percent of Europeans had received medical treatment in another member state during the past 12 months.

EU citizens can be reimbursed for urgent treatment anywhere in the bloc providing they contribute to a health insurance program.