Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-23-Speech-4-034"
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"en.20090423.3.4-034"2
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"The most important thing for a good healthcare policy, dear Members, is that everyone should be able to obtain good and affordable healthcare, preferably close to home. But if only 1% of patients go abroad for treatment, this is entirely because of uncertainty about quality and about reimbursement.
That is precisely why this directive is good news, above all for people in border regions, for patients on long waiting lists, for people with conditions for which better treatments are available abroad. Yet the right of these patients to be treated abroad should not threaten the possibility for Member States to properly organise and finance their own healthcare provision, since that is necessary to guarantee healthcare for everyone. That is why Parliament does well to draw a number of red lines. I will name three of these.
First, this directive rightly regulates only the mobility of patients and not of healthcare workers. The aim cannot be to create a market for healthcare services. On this point, the report is perfectly in order.
Secondly, the Member States must be able to decide for themselves on the healthcare they provide and what can be reimbursed. This is handled very well in the directive.
Thirdly, the reimbursement of ambulatory care must be simplified, but in the case of hospital and specialised care, Member States must obtain prior authorisation since that care is expensive. A country that wishes to guarantee healthcare for all must be able to plan for care in this way. On this point, Mr Bushill-Matthews, the report falls short: it still sets too many conditions for prior approval, making it difficult for Member States. I wish to lend my support to those of my colleagues who have made clear that this is truly a crucial point for my group if it is to be able to approve this directive.
Finally, I would like to speak up in favour of a dual legal basis, for healthcare is indeed a public responsibility of the Member States towards their populations, and thus cannot be simply left to the free market. I hope that these two red lines will make it to the finish line."@en1
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