Two key rulings from the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg earlier this month have increased the prospect of patients travelling to other EU countries to receive medical treatment.

The judgments in the cases, which were brought by a Belgian and two Dutch citizens, help to establish the conditions under which treatment abroad can be authorised and reimbursed.

In the Dutch case, the European judges maintained that a country's social security legislation could insist that patients obtain prior authorisation before receiving medical treatment abroad, or in an establishment that did not have agreements with their sickness insurance fund. …