It is now crystal clear that the Directive on the application of patient’s rights in cross-border healthcare is having a negativeimpact on member states ability to organise their respective national healthsystems. The EU legislation does not protect the rights of patients who seek/receive cross-border healthcare whilst ensuring the Member State’s responsibility for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care. In fact, it creates further bureaucratic and administrative burdens for the UK health commissioning bodies.
There have been further costs in administering mechanisms for reimbursing costs. In the other hand, there has been a wave of ´health tourism´, which is having a negative impact on NHS.
In fact, there has been widespread coverage today over the costs of health tourism to the NHS. According to the Independent “At present, the UK pays other EU countries more than £800 million a year to cover the cost of Britons receiving health care on holidays and other visits abroad, but receives back only £29 million for European nationals treated in the UK.” Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was hopping to recover around £500million a year. However, NHS only collects around £73million, 16 per cent of the £500 million that spends on treating foreigner patients every year, as hospitals are unwilling to pay further administrative costs of checking patients’ immigration status. Hence, Jeremy Hunt is planning to introduce new measures that would offer NHS trusts a premium of 25 per cent if they report that treatments were given to citizens from other EU member states.
