Cross border health care in Europe

doi:10.1136/bmj.39398.456493.80

Published 3 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.39398.456493.80
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a610

Editorials

Cross border health care in Europe

European Commission proposals provide legal clarity and moreinformation for patients

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

This week the European Commission publishes its long delayedproposals for how citizens of the European Union should obtainhealth care in other member states. These proposals will beconsidered by the European Parliament and governments of themember states.¹ The proposals build on a process involving healthministries and other stakeholders that began in 2003.

Current arrangements for cross border health care were establishedin the 1970s, when it became clear that free movement withinEurope would require that people could receive health care whenabroad. It was also recognised that people might need to besent abroad for treatment, but that this should be controlledby the organisations paying for the care.²

The number of people crossing European borders has increasedexponentially.³ A new generation of Europeans sees nationalfrontiers as increasingly irrelevant. Some of them have challengedwhat they see as unjustifiable restrictions on their right to. . . [Full text of this article]

Martin McKee, professor of European public health¹, Paul Belcher, EU government affairs adviser²

¹ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, ² Royal College of Physicians, London NW1 4LE

martin.mckee@lshtm.ac.uk

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

European Commission proposes rules for cross border health care: Rory Watson
BMJ 2008 337: a676. [Extract] [Full Text]

Final guidance issued on Herceptin after appeal rejected: Caroline White
BMJ 2006 333: 409. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Lombarts, M J M H, Rupp, I, Vallejo, P, Sunol, R, Klazinga, N S (2009). Application of quality improvement strategies in 389 European hospitals: results of the MARQuIS project. Qual Saf Health Care 18: i28-i37 [Abstract] [Full text]