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One Year after the EU Patient Mobility Directive: A Three-Country Analysis

On October 25, 2013, a new era in the patient mobility debate began with the entering into force of the Cross-Border Health Care Directive (2011/24). This legal document allows EU citizens to seek healthcare in other Member States. The Directive is the result of a number of rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU on reimbursement claims for medical treatment abroad based on the free movement principles. After its formal approval by the European Parliament (2011), Member States have been working to incorporate the Directive into national law. The question is whether they have been successful, and if so, whether their legal framework is Europe-proof. This article addresses specific topics regulated in the Directive, including prior authorisation, establishing national contact points, e-health, mutual recognition of prescriptions, and the co- operation on health technology assessment. Moreover, a three-country analysis is presented, covering Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands. Representing different health care systems, each of these Member States seems to have dealt with the Directive in its own way, though respecting the underlying principles. The diversity also reveals the unique problems countries are facing when implementing the Directive. At the same time, there are several commonalities indicating signs of a so-called Europeanisation of health care systems.

Patient Mobility Directive ; Croatia ; Italy ; the Nethlerlands

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