Posted on 07/02/2008 1:51:53 PM PDT by Stoat
The NHS would then be duty bound to refund the British cost of the procedure under the new rules for cross-border healthcare.
Todays proposed EU directive will give patients in all 27 member states the same rights to treatment on the NHS as British patients. It also guarantees that the full cost of treatment abroad will be refunded when an NHS professional has agreed that it is necessary for the patient to go overseas.
Patients will still have to pay their own travel and accommodation costs. They will not be able to demand funding abroad for treatments not available on the NHS, such as cosmetic surgery.
The directive which must now be examined by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers before becoming EU law was drawn up after several controversial European court cases on patients rights. One established that patients experiencing undue delay in their national health system had the right to fully funded treatment elsewhere in the EU.
As it stands, the proposed directive means that the NHS will have to fund a share of private treatment abroad for British patients, provided that the patient can afford the difference between the NHS cost and the private bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
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She added: It will allow excessive demand from one country to be met by excessive capacity in another country. This is the essence of the co-operation.
Does 'any' country on Earth have "excessive capacity" of healthcare services?
It seems that the standard Socialist plan is being implemented again, where instead of reforming a given concern and making it better, they instead pull out all the stops to spread the misery around as widely as possible....when everyone is hurting, that means that they've been successful at 'creating equality'.
Please be sure to take a look at the reader comments at the Times page...many are thoughtful and insightful.
I’m guessing that “excessive capacity” of healthcare services means simply ‘too much healthcare’. Which is a concept that only a socialist could come up, and which should scare the crap out of any rational thinking person.
Indeed. It will not only have the effect of diffusing complaints about the NHS ("You're tired of waiting for your operation? Go to Romania...they can get you in next week") but may increase some cultural hostilities. If you are French or Italian, will you be pleased about the fact that you may experience greater wait times for healthcare services now as a result of a huge influx of patients into your healthcare systems?
Hey! If we get Obama Kare and Obama Open Borders we'll be able to demand treatment in Mexicorruption.
Obama Kare -- The solution for too many old people and the Social Security / Medicare mess.
(((PING)))
Thanks for the ping!
Yes, many comments on that page are thoughtful and inciteful, and not a one of them even questions the reasoning behind the EU making this declaration. They just all seem to be wondering about what’s in it for them—nary a comment about a weakened autonomy or a directive from on high.
Point taken...sadly, we'll never know whether the lack of such essential questions is due to the Times readers being overwhelmingly Socialist and therefore sympathetic to the plan or whether it's a matter of the Times censors refusing to allow opinions or questions of that nature from readers.
I've submitted numerous comments both to the Times as well as the Daily Mail over the years, and although the comments have been polite, devoid of foul language and entirely in keeping with the focus of the article, they haven't been supportive of Leftist ideology and I have yet to have a comment successfully posted in either of those places.
It could also be that they simply don't like stoats....
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